Fast spore breaking by superheating.

Here we present the results of Bacillus subtilis spores breaking using superheating. The spore sample was pumped through the open-ended capillary tube mounted across the heated zone. We investigated the influence of temperature in the range 120-180 °C. The heat exposure was controlled by the length of the heated zone, the inner diameter of the capillary and the sample flow rate. We found that spore treatment above 120 °C resulted in the release of DNA within 20 s.