Possibility of association and activation of glucose dehydrogenase during germination and outgrowth of Bacillus subtilis spores.

Both a salt-dependent form and an active form of glucose dehydrogenase [EC 1.1.1.47] were isolated from germinated spores of Bacillus subtilis disrupted in deionized water and 100 mM phosphate buffer (pH 6.6), and most of the enzyme isolated from young vegetative cells was the active form regardless of the conditions for breakage by sonication. The molecular weight of the salt-dependent form of the enzyme was about 55,000 and that of the active form was about 120,000. From the above results and the results on the glucose dehydrogenase extracted from resting spores disrupted in deionized water and 100 mM phosphate buffer (pH 6.6) reported in a previous paper, we propose that glucose dehydrogenase is present in resting spores as a monomeric form and is activated with association in vivo during germination and outgrowth.