Figure 7 (a) Mean curves of germination rate versus time for untreated spores; (b) mean curves of germination rate versus time for spores after different times of sodium hypochlorite treatment; (c) mean curves of growth length versus time for spores after sodium hypochlorite treatment; (d)–(h) curves of cell length versus time for single spores treated with sodium hypochlorite for 0–20 min.
In addition, we found that surviving spores after sodium hypochlorite treatment were able to germinate and grow to form trophoblasts; however, inactivated spores were unable to germinate despite incubation for up to 3 h (Figure 6 ). Notably, there were differences in the curves of cell length versus time for eight single spores (treated and untreated groups) (Figure 7 (d)­–(h) ), indicating that there were individual differences in the effect of sodium hypochlorite on spores under the same conditions, reflecting the individual heterogeneity of the spores [31].