Induced release of Bacillus spores from sporangia by sodium sulphate

Incubation of sporulating cultures of Bacillus anthracis, B. cereus, B. subtilis and B. thuringiensis in 1.0 mol/l sodium sulphate markedly increased the release of free spores from sporangia. It is postulated that the release of spores is due to activation of latent autolysins which hydrolyse sporangial cell walls. Sodium sulphate-induced lysis of sporangia represents a novel and highly effective method for the recovery of spores from cultures of Bacillus species.