title: Phenotypic and genotypic diversity of Bacillus cereus isolates recovered from honey.
abstract: Of 433 honey samples collected in Argentina, 114 (27%) yielded Bacillus cereus isolates (27%) and 60 (14%) yielded other species of Bacillus. The Argentinian B. cereus isolates were compared with isolates recovered from honey from other countries (n=16) and with strain ATCC 11718. The 133 B. cereus isolates and the ATCC strain were characterized using rep-PCR fingerprinting with primers BOX, REP and ERIC, restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of a 16S rRNA gene fragment (16S rRNA PCR/RFLP), and morphological and biochemical tests. There was a high degree of diversity, both phenotypic and genotypic among the isolates of B. cereus. Our results demonstrate the usefulness of rep-PCR genomic fingerprinting for characterizing populations of B. cereus. According to our knowledge, this is the first report of phenotypic and genotypic characterization of B. cereus isolates from honey.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigaciones de Fitopatología, Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestales, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, calle 60 y 118 s/n, 1900 La Plata, Argentina.
authors.forename: Ana C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: López
authors.forename: Adriana M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Alippi
mesh_terms: D001118:Argentina; D001409:Bacillus cereus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001483:Base Sequence; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D005506:Food Contamination; D005784:Gene Amplification; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D006722:Honey / Q000382:microbiology*; D010641:Phenotype; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000032:analysis*; D013045:Species Specificity; D013171:Spores, Bacterial / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S