TY - JOUR
T1 - Identification of emetic toxin producing Bacillus cereus strains by a novel molecular assay
AU - Ehling-Schulz, Monika
AU - Fricker, Martina
AU - Scherer, Siegfried
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the European Commission (QLK1-CT-2001-00854). The technical assistance of Verena Pfund and help from Natasa Vukov in the PCR based screening assay is greatly appreciated. We are grateful to Erwin Märtlbauer (Institute of Hygiene and Technology of Food of Animal Origin, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich, Germany) who provided us with cultures from recent food poisoning cases in Germany. In addition, we thank Gilles Vernaud (Institut de Génétique et Microbiologie, Paris, France) for the gift of B. anthracis DNA and Dietrich Mäde (Landesanstalt für Verbraucherschutz, Halle, Germany) for making available unpublished observations.
PY - 2004/3/19
Y1 - 2004/3/19
N2 - Bacillus cereus causes two types of gastrointestinal diseases: emesis and diarrhea. The emetic type of the disease is attributed to the heat-stable depsipeptide cereulide and symptoms resemble Staphylococcus aureus intoxication, but there is no rapid method available to detect B. cereus strains causing this type of disease. In this study, a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) fragment of unknown function was identified, which was shown to be specific for emetic toxin producing strains of B. cereus. The sequence of this amplicon was determined and a PCR assay was developed on this basis. One hundred B. cereus isolates obtained from different food poisoning outbreaks and diverse food sources from various geographical locations and 29 strains from other species belonging to the B. cereus group were tested by this assay. In addition, 49 non-B. cereus group strains, with special emphasis on food pathogens, were used to show that the assay is specific for emetic toxin producing B. cereus strains. The presented PCR assay is the first molecular tool for the rapid detection of emetic toxin producing B. cereus strains.
AB - Bacillus cereus causes two types of gastrointestinal diseases: emesis and diarrhea. The emetic type of the disease is attributed to the heat-stable depsipeptide cereulide and symptoms resemble Staphylococcus aureus intoxication, but there is no rapid method available to detect B. cereus strains causing this type of disease. In this study, a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) fragment of unknown function was identified, which was shown to be specific for emetic toxin producing strains of B. cereus. The sequence of this amplicon was determined and a PCR assay was developed on this basis. One hundred B. cereus isolates obtained from different food poisoning outbreaks and diverse food sources from various geographical locations and 29 strains from other species belonging to the B. cereus group were tested by this assay. In addition, 49 non-B. cereus group strains, with special emphasis on food pathogens, were used to show that the assay is specific for emetic toxin producing B. cereus strains. The presented PCR assay is the first molecular tool for the rapid detection of emetic toxin producing B. cereus strains.
KW - Bacillus cereus
KW - Cereulide
KW - Emetic toxin
KW - Food poisoning
KW - Polymerase chain reaction detection
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=1842524061&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/S0378-1097(04)00066-7
DO - 10.1016/S0378-1097(04)00066-7
M3 - Article
C2 - 15033238
AN - SCOPUS:1842524061
SN - 0378-1097
VL - 232
SP - 189
EP - 195
JO - FEMS Microbiology Letters
JF - FEMS Microbiology Letters
IS - 2
ER -
