Enterotoxins of Bacillus cereus and Clostridium.

Production, Secretion and Biological Activity of Bacillus cereus Enterotoxins

Bacillus cereus behaves as an opportunistic pathogen frequently causing gastrointestinal diseases, and it is increasingly recognized to be responsible for severe local or systemic infections. Pathogenicity of B. cereus mainly relies on the secretion of a wide array of toxins and enzymes and also on the ability to undergo swarming differentiation in response to surface-sensing. In this report, t...

Rapid Testing of Food Matrices for Bacillus Cereus Enterotoxins

Studies on the production of enterotoxins by Bacillus cereus.

Evidence is presented for the existence of three distinct enterotoxins detected in concentrated cell-free culture filtrates of selected Bacillus cereus strains. The first was a product capable of stimulating the adenylate cyclase-cyclic-AMP system in intestinal epithelial cells and, possibly through this, causing fluid accumulation in ligated ileal sections ("loops") of young rabbits. This was ...

Bacillus cereus may produce two or more diarrheal enterotoxins.

Bacillus cereus strains were tested for production of diarrheal enterotoxin by the reverse passive latex agglutination test and for presence of B. cereus enterotoxin gene (bceT) by polymerase chain reaction. About 50% of 56 B. cereus strains reacted positive in broth culture in the reverse passive latex agglutination test, while the bceT gene was detected in 41.1%. Sixteen percent of the strain...

Clostridium welchii and Bacillus cereus infection and intoxication.

Clostridium welchii type A is a common agent of food poisoning when allowed to proliferate to large numbers in cooked foods, usually meat and poultry. The main factors of importance are survival of the spores, frequently found on raw products, through the cooking process, and possible contamination of cooked meats transferred to unclean containers; subsequent germination of spores and rapid mul...