Difference between vegetative cells & Endospore

            

                     

s.no	Characterstic	Vegetative cell	Endospore
1	Structure	Typical gram positive cell ;       Few gram negative cells	Thick spore cortex, spore coat & Exosporium
2	Microscopic appearance	Non-refractile	Refractile
3	Calcium content	Low	high
4	Dipiclonic acid	Absent	Present
5	Enzyme activity	High	Low
6	Metabolism(O2 uptake)	High	Low or absent
7	Macromolecular synthesis	Present	Absent
8	mRNA	Present	Low or absent
9	Heat resistance	Low	High
10	Radiation resistance	Low	High
11	Resistance to chemicals(for e.g. H2O2) & acids	Low	High
12	Stainability by dyes	Stainable	Stainable only with specific method
13	Action of lysosomes	Sensitive	Resistance
14	Water content	High, 80-90%	Low, 10-25% in core
15	Small acid-soluble protein	Absent	Present
16	Cytoplasmic PH	Above PH 7	Above PH 5.5-6.0 in core