title: Relative frequency distribution of d(125 C) values for spore isolates from the mariner-Mars 1969 spacecraft.
abstract: Bacterial spore crops were prepared from 103 randomly selected aerobic mesophilic isolates collected during a spore assay of Mariner-Mars 1969 spacecraft conducted by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. D(125 c) values, which were determined by the fractional-replicate-unit-negative-most-probable number assay method using a forced air oven, ranged from less than 5 min to a maximum of 58 min. Subsequent identification of the 103 isolates indicated that there was no relationship between species and dry-heat resistance. A theoretical dry-heat survival curve of the "population" was nonlinear. The slope of this curve was determined almost exclusively by the more resistant organisms, although they represented only a small portion of the "population."
authors.affiliation: Applied Microbiology and Planetary Quarantine Section, Phoenix Laboratories, Center for Disease Control, Phoenix, Arizona 85014.
authors.forename: W W
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Bond
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Favero
authors.forename: N J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Petersen
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Marshall