Spores of Bacillus and Clostridium species are significant agents of food spoilage and food-borne disease, in large part because of their extreme resistance, and wet heat is probably the most frequently used agent to eliminate spores from foods. As a consequence, there is much interest in the mechanisms of spore resistance to wet heat, as well as methods to reduce or eliminate spores’ extreme resistance properties. While Bacillus spores can survive for long periods in their dormant, resistant state, if given the proper signal, generally one or more specific nutrients, spores initiate the process of germination, in which spores’ resistance and dormancy are lost (1, 7). In particular, a major early germination event is the rapid release of spores’ CaDPA, which results in a significant rise in core water content.