Zhou Bing, Alon Sima, Rao Lei, Sinai Lior, Ben-Yehuda Sigal
Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada, The Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, POB 12272, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 91120 Jerusalem, Israel.
Microlife. 2022 Apr 8;3:uqac004. doi: 10.1093/femsml/uqac004. eCollection 2022.
The Gram positive bacterium and its relatives are capable of forming a durable dormant long-lasting spore. Although spores can remain dormant for years, they possess the remarkable capacity to rapidly resume life and convert into actively growing cells. This cellular transition initiates with a most enigmatic irreversible event, termed germination, lasting only for a few minutes. Germination is typified by a morphological conversion that culminates in loss of spore resilient properties. Yet, the molecular events occurring during this brief critical phase are largely unknown. The current widely accepted view considers germination to occur without the need for any macromolecule synthesis; however, accumulating data from our laboratory and others, highlighted here, provide evidence that both transcription and translation occur during germination and are required for its execution. We further underline numerous overlooked studies, conducted mainly during the 1960s-1970s, reinforcing this notion. We propose to revisit the fascinating process of spore germination and redefine it as a pathway involving macromolecule synthesis. We expect our perspective to shed new light on the awakening process of a variety of spore-forming environmental, commensal, and pathogenic bacteria and possibly be applicable to additional organisms displaying a quiescent life form.
革兰氏阳性菌及其相关菌能够形成持久的、休眠期长的孢子。尽管孢子可以休眠数年，但它们具有迅速恢复生命并转化为活跃生长细胞的非凡能力。这种细胞转变始于一个极其神秘的不可逆事件，称为萌发，仅持续几分钟。萌发的典型特征是形态转变，最终导致孢子弹性特性丧失。然而，在这个短暂的关键阶段发生的分子事件在很大程度上尚不清楚。目前广泛接受的观点认为，萌发过程无需任何大分子合成；然而，我们实验室和其他实验室积累的数据（在此突出显示）表明，转录和翻译在萌发过程中均会发生，并且是其执行所必需的。我们进一步强调了许多主要在20世纪60年代至70年代进行的被忽视的研究，这些研究强化了这一观点。我们建议重新审视孢子萌发这一迷人的过程，并将其重新定义为一个涉及大分子合成的途径。我们期望我们的观点能为各种形成孢子的环境、共生和致病细菌的唤醒过程带来新的启示，并可能适用于其他表现出静止生命形式的生物体。
