Multilocus sequence typing reveals that Bacillus cereus strains isolated from clinical infections have distinct phylogenetic origins.
Eight strains of Bacillus cereus isolated from bacteremia and soft tissue infections were assigned to seven sequence types (STs) by multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Two strains from different locations had identical STs. The concatenated sequences of the seven STs were aligned with 65 concatenated sequences from reference STs and a neighbor-joining tree was constructed. Two strains were distantly related to all reference STs. Three strains were recovered in a clade that included Bacillus anthracis, B. cereus and rare Bacillus thuringiensis strains while the other three strains were assigned to two STs that were more closely affiliated to most of the B. thuringiensis STs. We conclude that invasive B. cereus strains do not form a single clone or clonal complex of highly virulent strains.
Barker
Margaret
M
School of Life Sciences, Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, UK.
Thakker
Bishan
B
Priest
Fergus G
FG
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000483:Alleles; D016863:Bacillaceae Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D001407:Bacillus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D001409:Bacillus cereus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016470:Bacteremia / Q000382:microbiology; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D018461:Soft Tissue Infections / Q000382:microbiology
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial