ABSTRACTRaman spectroscopy and differential interference contrast (DIC) microscopy were used to monitor the kinetics of nutrient and nonnutrient germination of multiple individual untreated and wet-heat-treated spores ofBacillus cereusandBacillus megaterium, as well as of several isogenicBacillus subtilisstrains. Major conclusions from this work were as follows. (i) More than 90% of these spores were nonculturable but retained their 1:1 chelate of Ca2+and dipicolinic acid (CaDPA) when incubated in water at 80 to 95°C for 5 to 30 min. (ii) Wet-heat treatment significantly increased the time,Tlag, at which spores began release of the great majority of their CaDPA during the germination ofB. subtilisspores with different nutrient germinants and also increased the variability ofTlagvalues. (iii) The time period, ΔTrelease, betweenTlagand the time,Trelease, at which a spore germinating with nutrients completed the release of the great majority of its CaDPA, was also increased in wet-heat-treated spores. (iv) Wet-heat-treated spores germinating with nutrients had higher values ofIrelease, the intensity of a spore's DIC image atTrelease, than did untreated spores and had much longer time periods, ΔTlys, for the reduction inIreleaseintensities to the basal value due to hydrolysis of the spore's peptidoglycan cortex, probably due at least in part to damage to the cortex-lytic enzyme CwlJ. (v) Increases inTlagand ΔTreleasewere also observed when wet-heat-treatedB. subtilisspores were germinated with the nonnutrient dodecylamine, while the change inIreleasewas less significant. (vi) The effects of wet-heat treatment on nutrient germination ofB. cereusandB. megateriumspores were generally similar to those onB. subtilisspores. These results indicate that (i) some proteins important in spore germination are damaged by wet-heat treatment, (ii) the cortex-lytic enzyme CwlJ is one germination protein damaged by wet heat, and (iii) the CaDPA release process itself seems likely to be the target of wet-heat damage which has the greatest effect on spore germination.