NON-OXIDATIVE ENZYMES OF SPORE EXTRACTS 



121 



P s 



120 180 240 



TliVE- MINUTES 



Fig. 1. Oxalacetate produced from a-ketoglutarate and aspartate via 

 glutamic-aspartic transaminase of extracts of spores and vegetative cells of 

 B. megaterium (Levinson and Sevag, 1954a). 



We have had an idea that the effect of manganese is to activate an en- 

 zyme, which, within the spore, can produce substances useful to the spore 

 in its germination. We have obtained certain indirect evidence supporting 

 this point of view, which, by the way, is contradictory to the ideas expressed 

 by Pulvertaft and Haynes (1951)., who postulated the necessity for a specific 

 excitant for spore germination. An extract of ground spores is stimulatory 

 to germination of intact spores. The dialyzed extract is relatively inactive, 

 but the material which passes through the dialysis bag is somewhat more 

 active than was the original extract (Table I). In line with our theory, but 

 not excluding other possibilities, we have postulated that this phenomenon 

 may be due to continued production of the hypothesized essential principle 

 during the course of the dialysis. 



Spores will, as we all know, germinate in the absence of added manga- 

 nesd However, it was determined by spectrographic techniques ( Cohen and 

 Wiener, 1954) that our spores, grown in the liver fraction medium sug- 

 gested by Foster and Heiligman (1949), contained from 50 to 100 ppni of 



