| Cells of Ralstonia solanacearum were exposed to Cu in distilled water, and the resulting Cu-stressed non-culturable cells were inoculated to natural (non-pasteurized) and pasteurized soils in order to examine their culturability and recovery. Exposing the cells to 20 µM CuSO4 produced transitory non-culturable cells, which exhibited a remarkable recovery in culturability after incubation in the solution for 36 h, reaching a density near the initial level by 108 h. To determine whether such non-culturable cells actually "resuscitated" or multiplied after adapting to Cu toxicity, growth curves were constructed in order to contrast the rates of increase in culturable cell numbers between Cu-stressed or non-stressed inocula. Additionally, fresh non-stressed... |
