We previously demonstrated a genetic basis in tomato for support of the growth of a biological control agent, Bacillus cereus UW85, in the spermosphere after seed inoculation (K. P. Smith, J. Handelsman, and R. M. Goodman, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96:4786-4790, 1999). Here we report results of studies examining the host effect on the support of growth of Bacillus and Pseudomonas strains, both...

Cereulide and valinomycin are highly similar cyclic dodecadepsipeptides with potassium ionophoric properties. Cereulide, produced by members of the Bacillus cereus group, is known mostly as emetic toxin, and no ecological function has been assigned. A comparative analysis of the antimicrobial activity of valinomycin produced by Streptomyces spp. and cereulide was performed at a pH range of pH 5...

AIMS   The aim of this study was to determine whether endophytic Bacillus cereus isolates from agronomic crops possessed genes for the nonhaemolytic enterotoxin (Nhe) and haemolysin BL (HBL) and, therefore, have the potential to cause diarrhoeal illness in humans. METHODS AND RESULTS   PCR followed by sequencing confirmed the presence of enterotoxin genes nheA, nheB, nheC, hblA, hblC, hblD in...

Aim: The present study was undertaken to describe the biotyping of Bacillus cereus isolated from different street vended mutton tikka and chutney samples. Materials and Methods: A total of 100 street vended food samples comprising of 60 mutton tikka and 40 chutney samples were tested. Results: The biotype 3 and biotype 4 showed the highest occurrence with, 29.63% and 25.93% isolates falling in ...

An aerobic endospore-forming bacillus (NVH 391-98(T)) was isolated during a severe food poisoning outbreak in France in 1998, and four other similar strains have since been isolated, also mostly from food poisoning cases. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity, these strains were shown to belong to the Bacillus cereus Group (over 97% similarity with the current Group species) and phylogenet...

Background: Bacillus cereus is a spore-forming food-borne pathogen often associated with food products such as meat, vegetables, soup, rice, and milk and other dairy products. 1 - 20 % of total outbreaks of food intoxication in the world are caused by Bacillus cereus. There is an increasing interest in the use of plant-derived antimicrobial compounds as natural preservatives for foods. Such as ...

Bacillus cereus isolates have been described harboring Bacillus anthracis toxin genes, most notably B. cereus G9241, and capable of causing severe and fatal pneumonias. This report describes the characterization of a B. cereus isolate, BcFL2013, associated with a naturally occurring cutaneous lesion resembling an anthrax eschar. Similar to G9241, BcFL2013 is positive for the B. anthracis pXO1 t...

Background Bacillus cereus (B. cereus) rarely causes lower respiratory tract infections, although most reported cases of B. cereus pneumonia are fatal despite intensive antibiotic therapy. We present a case of B. cereus pneumonia in an immunocompetent patient. Case presentation An 81-year-old woman was transferred from a district general hospital to our hospital for treatment of congestive he...

Bacillus cereus is mainly known as a human food-borne opportunistic pathogen. Here, we used biological assays and HPLC to investigate the ability of B. cereus to produce insecticidal exotoxins during the stationary growth phase. None of the 575 B. cereus strains screened produced detectable levels of beta-exotoxin I, a small, heat-stable insecticidal nucleotide analogue. However, six out of a s...