Isolation of dipicolinic acid (pyridine-2:6-dicarboxylic acid) from spores of Bacillus megatherium.

In a previous paper (Powell & Strange, 1953) the loss in dry weight of spores of Bacilus megatherium and Bacilluss subtilis during germination was described, and accounted for by the excretion into the medium of amino-acids, peptides, glucosamine, calcium and a compound with a strong and characteristic ultraviolet absorption spectrum. In this paper the isolation and identification of the latter compound is described in detail.