Relationship between spore germination kinetics and lag time during growth of Mucor racemosus

• Published in: Letters in applied microbiology Vol. 35; no. 5; pp. 395 - 398
• Main Authors: Dantigny, P., Soares Mansur, C., Sautour, M., Tchobanov, I., Bensoussan, M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Science Ltd 01-01-2002; Blackwell Science
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Culture Media; Food industries; Food microbiology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Growth, nutrition, metabolism, transports, enzymes. Molecular biology; Microbiology; Mucor - growth & development; Mucor - metabolism; Mycelium - growth & development; Mycology; Spores, Fungal - growth & development; Spores, Fungal - metabolism; Temperature; Time Factors
• ISSN: 0266-8254; 1472-765X; 1365-2673
• DOI: 10.1046/j.1472-765X.2002.01214.x

Aims: Spore germination requires microscopic observation whereas fungal growth results in a macroscopic examination. This paper aims at establishing a relationship between the percentage of germinated spores and parameters easily available from visible development.
Methods and Results:
About 225 spores of
Mucor racemosus
were inoculated on PDA medium and incubated at 15° and 25°C. Germination kinetics were modelled by a logistic function. Fungal development provided two parameters, a growth rate, µ, and a lag period, λ, defined as the slope of the straight line of the graph radius
(mm) vs time (h) and the intercept of this line with the X‐axis, respectively.
Conclusions: It was found that the lag period coincided with the completion of the germination process, although the number of spores inoculated should be controlled carefully.
Significance and Impact of the Study: Providing that this result can be generalized, this procedure would constitute a significant breakthrough for predicting food spoilage by moulds.