Macrophage-Enhanced Germination of Bacillus anthracis Endospores Requires gerS

Germination of Bacillus anthracis Sterne and plasmidless Δ-Sterne endospores was dramatically enhanced in RAW264.7 macrophage-like cells, while germination of nonpathogenic Bacillus endospores was not. Elimination of gerS, a germinant receptor locus, caused a complete loss of cell-enhanced germination, implicating gerS in the breaking of endospore dormancy in vivo.