Towards understanding germination of B. anthracis spores

The potency of anthrax as a BW agent is due to the ability of the anthrax spores to survive in a dormant state even under extreme conditions. Unfortunately, the molecular signals controlling Bacillus spore germination are not well known. Identifying thegermination mechanism will permit the discovery of new classes of germinants. The elucidation of receptors responsible for germination is especially important, because it will permit the design of new classes of potent germinants acting in vivo, i.e.supplementing antibiotic based therapies.Multi Photon Detection (MPD) methods are applicable to the full spectrum of BW agents, including viruses and bacteria, and biotoxins. In this proposal we describe the applications of MPD to the understanding of the germination of B. anthracis. Themethods of proteomics, especially MPD enhanced differential display of proteins will be used to understand the difference in phenotype of the spores which easily and with difficulty induced to germinate. Initially, we will apply the methods of MPDenhanced proteomics to understand the spores proteome. The Phase I effort will separate the proteins which are correlated with the initiation of the germination process. The difference in proteome between the