The metabolic activity of L-form bacteria has not been widely studied, but previous work has shown that metabolic

activity for the L-form is often much lower than vegetative cells [23, 24]. Generally L-forms can be recognized by a spherical or pleomorphic AMN-107 morphology which differs significantly from the morphology of the parent cells [25], but as the shape of L-forms can vary considerably, this definition is not universal. They are most frequently defined as cell forms that have a deficient or absent cell wall and retain the ability to divide [26]. The ability of L-forms to form colonies on nutrient rich plates [26] helps to differentiate them from viable but non-culturable cells (VBNCs), another non-growth state AZD1152 which is often induced by starvation or unpermissive growth temperatures and in some cases shares many similar features with L-forms [27]. L-forms are selleck often classified in two categories, stable and unstable, which respectively refer to whether the L-form can revert back to the parent morphology or not [21]. Stressors that have been found to induce or promote the L-form morphology include treatment with β-lactam antibiotics with or without lysozyme[28, 29], cultivation in minimal media or exposure to nutrient limitation [30–32], exposure to extreme heat [30] and exposure

to high salt concentrations [33]. Following the observation that C. thermocellum strain ATCC 27405 develops L-forms Teicoplanin in addition to spores, we examine here the properties of these two non-growth cell states and the factors that trigger their formation in this organism. Results Evaluation of conditions under which spores were observed Several growth medium modifications were tested to evaluate impacts on sporulation of C. thermocellum strain ATCC 27405 as shown in Table 1. Only the absence of vitamins appeared to have any sporulation effect, with an average of 4% of the cells forming spores. Elevated amounts of acetate (3 g/L) and ethanol (0.2-10% v/v), the two

primary fermentation products formed by this organism, were also tested but a sporulation response was not observed. The effect of low pH was tested in C. thermocellum cultures allowed to drop below pH 6.0 during the course of normal fermentation, but sporulation was not observed. Likewise, a decrease in temperature below 48°C did not result in spore formation for exponential or stationary phase cells. Table 1 Percentage of resting cells formed after stress exposure Stress type Specific modification Percent spores Percent L-forms MTC media (control) No modifications 0 0 Nutrient limitation Reduced cellulose (1g L-1) 0 0 Nutrient limitation Low phosphorous 0 0 Nutrient limitation Low nitrogen 0 0 Nutrient limitation No vitamins 4.2 ± 2.8 0 Inhibitor Added ethanol 0 0 Inhibitor Added acetate 0 0 Oxidative stress Added oxygen 6.6 ± 4.