Long description

A circular flow chart. At the top is a spore forming bacterium. Moving clockwise, the flow chart shows: the duplication of DNA, DNA divides, daughter cell forms, membrane surrounds daughter cell (depicted on the spore-forming bacterium as the 'inner membrane' around one of the two DNA strands), the spore coats form (depicted as a second membrane surrounding the inner membrane), the mother cell withers, and further spore coats form around the original one. The final spore is released from the withered cell and is now a spore. The spore is then germinated to form spore-forming bacterium and the process begins again.