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Activation of Bacillus spores at moderately elevated temperatures (30–33 °C)

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Abstract

The time/temperature profiles experienced by spores on the track from their natural sporulation environment to consumable food products may be highly diverse. Temperature has been documented as an important factor that may activate spores, i.e. potentiates spores to germinate. There is, however, limited knowledge about the relationship between the expected temperature history and the subsequent germination characteristics of bacterial spores. We show here that the germination rate of five different Bacillus spore populations, represented by strains of Bacillus cereus, Bacillus weihenstephanensis, Bacillus pumilus, Bacillus licheniformis and Bacillus subtilis could be increased following 1 week storage at moderately elevated temperatures, 30–33 °C, compared to spores stored at 3–8 °C. The results imply that spores contamination routes to foods, specifically the temperature history, could be highly relevant data in predictive modeling of food spoilage and safety. Activation at these moderately elevated temperatures may be a native form of spore activation in their natural habitats, knowledge that also could be useful in development of decontamination strategies for mildly heated foods.

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge Drs. Barbara and Peter Setlow for donating B. subtilis PS533 and for helpful technical advice. The authors thank the Research Council of Norway for financial support through grant 178299/I10, and the foundation NORCONSERV through project BacISS.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Process Technology, Nofima AS, P.O. Box 8034, 4068, Stavanger, Norway

    Irene Stranden Løvdal, Jan Thomas Rosnes & Trond Løvdal

  2. Norwegian School of Veterinary Science, Oslo, Norway

    Irene Stranden Løvdal & Per Einar Granum

  3. Department of Early Childhood Education, Faculty of Arts and Education, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway

    Irene Stranden Løvdal

Authors
  1. Irene Stranden Løvdal
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  2. Per Einar Granum
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  3. Jan Thomas Rosnes
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  4. Trond Løvdal
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Correspondence to Trond Løvdal.

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Løvdal, I.S., Granum, P.E., Rosnes, J.T. et al. Activation of Bacillus spores at moderately elevated temperatures (30–33 °C). Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 103, 693–700 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-012-9839-3

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