A new phylogenetic cluster of cereulide-producing Bacillus cereus strains.
Phenotypic and molecular studies have established that cereulide-producing strains of Bacillus cereus are a distinct and probably recently emerged clone within the Bacillus population. We analyzed a set of B. cereus strains, both cereulide producers and nonproducers, by multilocus sequence typing. Consistent with earlier reports, nonproducers demonstrated high heterogeneity. Most cereulide-producing strains and all flagellar antigen type H1 strains were allocated to the known sequence type of exclusively emetic B. cereus strains. Several cereulide-producing strains, however, were recovered at a new phylogenetic location, all of which were serotype H3 or H12. We hypothesize that the group of cereulide producers is diversifying progressively, probably by lateral transfer of the corresponding gene complex.
Vassileva
Maria
M
Department of Bacteriology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65 Tsurumai-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8550, Japan.
Torii
Keizo
K
Oshimoto
Megumi
M
Okamoto
Akira
A
Agata
Norio
N
Yamada
Keiko
K
Hasegawa
Tadao
T
Ohta
Michio
M
D001409:Bacillus cereus / Q000145:classification* / Q000378:metabolism*; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D047630:Depsipeptides / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D010802:Phylogeny; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D017385:Sequence Homology; D012703:Serotyping
D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D047630:Depsipeptides; C089294:cereulide