Efficient isolation and identification of Bacillus cereus group.
Bacillus cereus is a group of ubiquitous facultative anaerobic sporeforming Gram-positive rods commonly found in soil. The spores frequently contaminate a variety of foods, including produce, meat, eggs, and dairy products. Foodborne illnesses associated with toxins produced by B. cereus can result in self-limiting diarrhea or vomiting. Plate enumeration methods recommended by recognized food authorities to detect the presence of B. cereus in potentially contaminated food products do not inhibit other Gram-positive competitive bacteria. This study evaluated the use of Bacara, a new chromogenic agar, as an efficient method to identify and enumerate B. cereus group from food matrixes, even in the presence of background flora. Inclusivity and exclusivity testing was performed using four different selective and differential media for B. cereus, including Mannitol Egg Yolk Polymyxin (MYP), Polymyxin Pyruvate Egg-Yolk Mannitol Bromothymol Blue Agar, Bacillus Chromogenic Media, Brilliance, and Bacara. MYP and Bacara were also used in plate enumeration studies to isolate B. cereus from artificially contaminated foods.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, 5100 Paint Branch Pkwy, College Park, MD 20740, USA. Sandra.Tallent@fda.hhs.gov
Sandra M
SM
Tallent
Kristin M
KM
Kotewicz
Errol A
EA
Strain
Reginald W
RW
Bennett
D000362:Agar / Q000737:chemistry*; D001409:Bacillus cereus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D005516:Food Microbiology / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D000362:Agar