Determination of Oxygen Respiration Rates in Wetted Developmentally Arrested Spores of Streptomyces Species

Abstract

Streptomyces species produce spores, which, while not as robust as endospores of Bacillus or Clostridium species, are capable of surviving for months or even years (Hopwood, 2006). During this time these spores remain viable, surviving by slowly degrading internal stores of carbon compounds, such as the carbohydrate trehalose. To enable metabolism to continue they must have access to an electron acceptor that allows the removal of the reducing equivalents that accumulate through metabolic activity. The most commonly used acceptor is oxygen. We describe the quantitative measurement of oxygen respiration rates by developmentally arrested spores of the streptomycete Streptomyces coelicolor (Fischer et al., 2013).