title: Prevalence, genetic diversity, and antibiotic resistance of Bacillus cereus isolated from Korean fermented soybean products.
abstract: Bacillus cereus contamination is a major food safety problem for Korean fermented soybean products, but few studies have assessed its potential to cause foodborne illness. The objectives of this study were to investigate the prevalence and characteristics of B. cereus isolated from Korean fermented soybean products. B. cereus was detected in 110 of 162 (67.9%) samples. The highest B. cereus frequency was observed in deonjang (68 of 93 samples, 73.1%) and cheonggukjang (18 of 25, 72.0%); however, nonhemolytic enterotoxin was detected only in 22 of 162 samples (13.6%). Although the tested B. cereus isolates showed diverse pulsotypes according to repetitive sequence-PCR banding patterns, they displayed similar antibiotic sensitivity spectra. The low frequency of enterotoxin detection suggests that the potential risk of B. cereus foodborne illness associated with Korean fermented soybean products is lower than generally presumed. However, considering the prevalence of B. cereus and the high content of fermented soybean products in the Korean diet, it is necessary to constantly monitor the level of contamination with B. cereus and its toxins in such Korean food products.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Food Science & Biotechnology, Dongguk Univ, 30, Pildong-ro 1-gil, Joong-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Cheol-Woo
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Seung-Hak
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Suk-Ho
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Yong-Bae
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Mi-Hye
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.forename: Jong-Bok
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Wan-Seob
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: No
authors.forename: Jung-Beom
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D001409:Bacillus cereus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D019149:Bioreactors; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D004768:Enterotoxins / Q000032:analysis; D005285:Fermentation; D005516:Food Microbiology; D059022:Food Safety; D005517:Foodborne Diseases / Q000382:microbiology; D014644:Genetic Variation; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D056910:Republic of Korea; D045730:Soy Foods / Q000032:analysis / Q000382:microbiology*; D013025:Glycine max / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D004768:Enterotoxins
keywords: Bacillus cereus; Korean fermented soybean product; antibiotic susceptibility; genetic diversity