GLASSY STATE IN BACTERIAL-SPORES PREDICTED BY POLYMER GLASS-TRANSITION THEORY

Polymer glass-transition theory was used to gain information about a possible general mechanism to explain the high heat resistance of bacterial spores. In a glassy state the configuration of vital macromolecules and supramolecular assemblies in the spore protoplast would change extremely slowly when heated. The temperature dependence for heat inactivation rates above the glass-transition temperature was shown to be free-volume dependent and described by the kinetics commonly observed for glassy polymers. Glass-transition temperatures for various spores, predicted by nonlinear regression analysis of their heat inactivation rates at different temperatures, increased with increasing heat resistance as expected.