title: Enterotoxigenic profiling of emetic toxin- and enterotoxin-producing Bacillus cereus, Isolated from food, environmental, and clinical samples by multiplex PCR.
abstract: Bacillus cereus comprises the largest group of endospore-forming bacteria and can cause emetic and diarrheal food poisoning. A total of 496 B. cereus strains isolated from various sources (food, environmental, clinical) were assessed by a multiplex PCR for the presence of enterotoxin genes. The detection rate of nheA, entFM, hblC, and cytK enterotoxin genes among all B. cereus strains was 92.33%, 77.21%, 59.47%, and 47.58%, respectively. Enterotoxigenic profiles were determined in emetic toxin- (8 patterns) and enterotoxin-producing strains (12 patterns). The results provide important information on toxin prevalence and toxigenic profiles of B. cereus from various sources. Our findings revealed that B. cereus must be considered a serious health hazard and Bacillus thuringiensis should be considered of a greater potential concern to food safety among all B. cereus group members. Also, there is need for intensive and continuous monitoring of products embracing both emetic toxin and enterotoxin genes.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Food Science and Biotechnology, School of Bio-convergence Science and Technology, Kangwon National Univ., Chuncheon, Gangwon 200-701, Republic of Korea. Author Kim is with Div. of Health Research and Planning, Gyeonggi-do Research Inst. of Health and Environment, Suwon, Gyeonggi 440-290, Korea.
authors.forename: Fereidoun
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Forghani
authors.forename: Jung-Beom
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Deog-Hwan
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Oh
mesh_terms: D001409:Bacillus cereus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001413:Bacillus thuringiensis / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000235:genetics*; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000382:microbiology; D004768:Enterotoxins / Q000235:genetics*; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis; D005516:Food Microbiology; D059022:Food Safety; D005517:Foodborne Diseases / Q000382:microbiology; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D060885:Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D004768:Enterotoxins; C000589183:NheA protein, Bacillus cereus; C040792:enterotoxin, Bacillus cereus
keywords: Bacillus cereus; enterotoxigenic profiling; food poisoning; multiplex PCR