Discussion
Determine the correctness or otherwise of the following Assertion [a] and the Reason [r].
Assertion [a]: Endospore can survive heat that would rapidly kill vegetative cells of the same species.
Reason [r]: In endospore, the protoplasm is reduced to minimum volume as a result of the accumulation of calcium-dipicolinic acid complexes and small acid-soluble spore proteins, which forms a cytoplasmic gel and a thick cortex.
Answer: A
Both [a] and [r] are true and [r] is the correct reason for [a].
Endospores survive boiling and other heat treatments that kill the vegetative cells of the same species, which is why sterilisation needs autoclaving at 121 °C.
The heat resistance comes largely from the spore core's very low water content. Calcium dipicolinate and small acid-soluble spore proteins accumulate in the core, the cortex helps keep it dehydrated, and the protoplast shrinks to a minimum volume in a gel-like state; the SASPs also bind and protect the DNA. The reason therefore explains the assertion.
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