ability to germinate with AK. It is unclear whether this could be due
to the long exposure of NFB spores to oxygen during drying period
(1 h) prior to germination induction. Therefore, we examined spore
inactivation on SS chips using only spores of FP isolates. In contrast
to the suspension experiments, we observed w1 log CFU/chip
reduction of viable spores upon germination with AK compared to
initial counts and spores exposed to control buffer. Thus, the
decrease ofC. perfringensspores after AK germination on SS chips
might be attributed to the lower adherence capacities of germinated spores compared to the non-germinated spores and they
detached from the surface during germination process.