Bacterial spores, from ecology to biotechnology.

The production of a highly specialized cell structure called a spore is a remarkable example of a survival strategy displayed by bacteria in response to challenging environmental conditions. The detailed analysis and description of the process of sporulation in selected model organisms have generated a solid background to understand the cellular processes leading to the formation of this specialized cell. However, much less is known regarding the ecology of spore-formers. This research gap needs to be filled as the feature of resistance has important implications not only on the survival of sporeformers and their ecology, but also on the use of spores for environmental prospection and biotechnological applications.