Sensitivity of an early step in the sporulation of Bacillus subtilis to selective inhibition by ethidium bromide.

When a final concentration of 0.4 mug of ethidium bromide (EB) per ml, which is subinhibitory to vegetative growth, is added to sporulating cells of Bacillus subtilis Marburg during either stage 0 or the early part of stage 1, morphogenesis is blocked. If the given concentration of EB is added after the early part of stage 1, sporogenesis is unaffected. The synthesis of the serine protease and antibiotic, which are believed to be associated with sporulation events during the early part of stage 0, are not inhibited by EB. Enhanced binding of [(14)C]benzylpenicillin to sporulating cells during septation (stage 2) is a measure of the presence of terminal enzymes for germ cell wall peptidoglycan synthesis. EB does not interfere with the binding of penicillin to sporulating cells, but penicillin remains more permanently bound to EB-treated postlogarithmic cells than to untreated sporulating cells. The absence of an interval of increased penicillin binding activity during stage 2 by sporulating cells treated with EB indicates that EB blocks sporulation prior to the completion of the germ cell wall.