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Relationship between spore germination kinetics and lag time during growth of Mucor racemosus
Author(s) -
Dantigny P.,
Soares Mansur C.,
Sautour M.,
Tchobanov I.,
Bensoussan M.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
letters in applied microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.698
H-Index - 110
eISSN - 1472-765X
pISSN - 0266-8254
DOI - 10.1046/j.1472-765x.2002.01214.x
Subject(s) - germination , spore , spore germination , lag time , food spoilage , mucor , biology , horticulture , botany , bacteria , penicillium , biological system , genetics
Aims: Spore germination requires microscopic observation whereas fungal growth results in a macroscopic examination. This paper aims at establishing a relationship between the percentage of germinated spores and parameters easily available from visible development. Methods and Results:About 225 spores ofMucor racemosuswere inoculated on PDA medium and incubated at 15° and 25°C. Germination kinetics were modelled by a logistic function. Fungal development provided two parameters, a growth rate, µ, and a lag period, λ, defined as the slope of the straight line of the graph radius(mm) vs time (h) and the intercept of this line with the X ‐axis, respectively. Conclusions: It was found that the lag period coincided with the completion of the germination process, although the number of spores inoculated should be controlled carefully. Significance and Impact of the Study: Providing that this result can be generalized, this procedure would constitute a significant breakthrough for predicting food spoilage by moulds.