BACKGROUND Bacillus thuringiensis and Bacillus cereus are two important species in B. cereus group. The intensive study of these strains at the molecular level and construction of genetically modified bacteria requires the development of efficient genetic tools. To insert genes into or delete genes from bacterial chromosomes, marker-less manipulation methods were employed. RESULTS We present ...

Zwittermicin A is a novel aminopolyol antibiotic produced by Bacillus cereus that is active against diverse bacteria and lower eukaryotes (L.A. Silo-Suh, B.J. Lethbridge, S.J. Raffel, H. He, J. Clardy, and J. Handelsman, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 60:2023-2030, 1994). To identify a determinant for resistance to zwittermicin A, we constructed a genomic library from B. cereus UW85, which produces ...

the harmful effects of many chemical food preservatives are well established, so this has triggered interest in natural methods of preservation. monolaurin, a monoester of lauric acid, founds naturally in some foods and has various antiviral and antibacterial activities. evaluation of the effects of monolaurin separately and in combination with lactic acid bacteria (lab) starter culture on grow...

Plant health depends, in part, on associations with disease-suppressive microflora, but little is known about the role of plant genes in establishing such associations. Identifying such genes will contribute to understanding the basis for plant health in natural communities and to new strategies to reduce dependence on pesticides in agriculture. To assess the role of the plant host in disease s...

The microbial co-culture system composing of Ketogulonicigenium vulgare and Bacillus cereus was widely adopted in industry for the production of 2-keto-gulonic acid (2-KGA), the precursor of vitamin C. We found serial subcultivation of the co-culture could enhance the yield of 2-KGA by 16% in comparison to that of the ancestral co-culture. To elucidate the evolutionary dynamics and interaction ...

Bacillus cereus is increasingly recognized as one of the major causes of food poisoning in the industrialized world. In this paper, we describe a sensitive double-antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) that was developed for rapid detection of B. cereus in food to minimize the risk of contamination. The polyclonal antibody (pAb) and monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) specific to ...

Bacillus cereus is an opportunistic foodborne agent causing food poisoning and many infectious diseases. The heat-stable emetic toxin cereulide is one of the most prevalent toxins produced by pathogenic B. cereus, resulting in symptoms such as emesis and liver failure. In the present work, the toxicity and toxicokinetics of cereulide from an emetic B. cereus isolate (CAU45) of raw milk were eva...

A major event in the germination of Bacillus spores concerns hydrolysis of the cortical peptidoglycan that surrounds the spore protoplast, the integrity of which is essential for maintenance of dormancy. Cortex degradation is initiated in all species of Bacillus spores by the combined activity of two semi-redundant cortex-lytic enzymes, SleB and CwlJ. A third enzyme, SleL, which has N-acetylglu...

BACKGROUND Iron is an essential element for bacterial growth and virulence. Because of its limited bioavailability in the host, bacteria have adapted several strategies to acquire iron during infection. In the human opportunistic bacteria Bacillus cereus, a surface protein IlsA is shown to be involved in iron acquisition from both ferritin and hemoproteins. IlsA has a modular structure consisti...

Maari is a spontaneously alkaline fermented food condiment made from baobab tree seeds. Due to the spontaneous nature of maari fermentations growth of the opportunistic human pathogen Bacillus cereus is occasionally observed. Bacillus subtilis strains are important for alkaline seed fermentations because of their enzymatic activities contributing to desirable texture, flavor and pH development....