11.B How Endospores Help Bacteria
By Marlon Schumacher
Image Source
"Schaeffer–Fulton Stain." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2015. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schaeffer%E2%80%93Fulton_stain>.
"Schaeffer–Fulton Stain." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2015. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schaeffer%E2%80%93Fulton_stain>.
Just What Are Endospores?
Endospores are an alternative form of life that is dormant and is created by several genera of bacteria such as the genus Bacillus and the genus Clostridium. A complete endospore has multiple layers of resistant coats, including a cortex, a spore coat and an exosporium, which surround several organelles, which include a nucleoid, enzymes, some ribosomes, and RNA molecules. Endospores are also responsible for transmitting several infectious diseases such as anthrax, botulism, gas gangrene, pseudomembranous colitis, and tetanus to humans.
Image Source
"Carboxydothermus Hydrogenoformans." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2015. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carboxydothermus_hydrogenoformans>.
"Carboxydothermus Hydrogenoformans." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2015. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carboxydothermus_hydrogenoformans>.
The Role Of Endospores In The Survival Of Bacteria
When a bacterium is under the conditions of starvation, especially if there's a lack of nitrogen and carbon, the bacterium will go through a fifteen hour process called sporulation, in which the layers of the endospores are created. At the end of sporulation, the remainder of the bacteria is degraded and the endospore is released. An endsopore will continue to live until a variety of environmental stimuli trigger germination, which results in the possible outgrowth of a single vegetative bacterium. So technically, the creation and life cycle of endospores serve as a way for bacteria to "renew" themselves over a period of time. The endopore created by a bacterium serves a as a form of "hibernation" when energy is scarce and once the environmental conditions are right, the bacterium can "reemerge" from the endospore and then "continue" its life.
Bibliography
Works Cited
"Cornell University." Bacterial Endospores. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2015. <https://micro.cornell.edu/research/epulopiscium/bacterial-endospores>.
"Prokaryotic Cell Structure: Endospores." Prokaryotic Cell Structure: Endospores. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2015. <http://faculty.ccbcmd.edu/courses/bio141/lecguide/unit1/prostruct/spore.html>.