Fig. 2

Identification of different sub-populations based on their light scatter and fluorescence signals after incubation with PI and CFDA. a Clostridial cells were separated from the background noise and gated as the P1 gate; only the P1 region was analysed for fluorescence, b fluorescence staining patterns: upper left (UL)—solely PI stained population, upper right (UR)—doubly stained cells, lower left (LL—non stained particles, R1—particles with fluorescence properties of mature spores released from mother cells, lower right (LR)—CFDA stained cells, and c identification of spores based on light scatter parameters (only particles occurring in the R1 gate were analysed in this step). FL1 green fluorescence, FL3 red fluorescence, FSC forward scatter signal, SSC side scatter signal