JB Accepts, published online ahead of print on 30 October 2009

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J. Bacteriol. doi:10.1128/JB.00954-09
Copyright (c) 2009, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.

The Silicon Layer Supports Acid Resistance of Bacillus cereus Spore

Ryuichi HIROTA, Yumehiro HATA, Takeshi IKEDA, Takenori ISHIDA, and Akio KURODA^*

Department of Molecular Biotechnology, Graduate School of Advanced Sciences of Matter, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima 739-8530, Japan

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: akuroda{at}hiroshima-u.ac.jp.

Silicon (Si) is considered to be a "quasi-essential" element for most living organisms. However, silicate uptake in bacteria and its physiological functions have remained obscure. We observed that Si is deposited in a spore coat layer covered with nanometer-sized particles in Bacillus cereus and that the Si layer enhances acid resistance. The novel acid resistance of the spore mediated by Si-encapsulation was also observed in other Bacillus strains, representing a general adaptation enhancing survival under acidic conditions.