Bacillus cereus

Bacillus cereus is a Gram-positive, rod-shaped, facultatively anaerobic, motile, beta-hemolytic, spore forming bacterium commonly found in soil and food. The specific name, cereus, meaning 'waxy' in Latin, refers to the appearance of colonies grown on blood agar. Some strains are harmful to humans and cause foodborne illness, while other strains can be beneficial as probiotics for animals. The bacteria is classically contracted from fried rice dishes that have been sitting at room temperature for hours. B. cereus bacteria are facultative anaerobes, and like other members of the genus Bacillus, can produce protective endospores. Its virulence factors include cereolysin and phospholipase C. The Bacillus cereus group comprises seven closely related species: B. cereus sensu stricto (referred to herein as B. cereus), B. anthracis, B. thuringiensis, B. mycoides, B. pseudomycoides, B. weihenstephanensis, and B. cytotoxicus. B. cereus competes with other microorganisms such as Salmonella and Campylobacter in the gut; its presence reduces the numbers of those microorganisms. In food animals such as chickens, rabbits and pigs, some harmless strains of B. cereus are used as a probiotic feed additive to reduce Salmonella in the animals' intestines and cecum. This improves the animals' growth, as well as food safety for humans who eat them. B. cereus can parasitize codling moth larvae. B. cereus and other members of Bacillus are not easily killed by alcohol; they have been known to colonize distilled liquors and alcohol-soaked swabs and pads in numbers sufficient to cause infection. Some strains of B. cereus produce cereins, bacteriocins active against different B. cereus strains or other Gram-positive bacteria. At 30 °C (86 °F), a population of B. cereus can double in as little as 20 minutes or as long as 3 hours, depending on the food product. B. cereus is responsible for a minority of foodborne illnesses (2–5%), causing severe nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Bacillus foodborne illnesses occur due to survival of the bacterial endospores when infected food is not, or inadequately, cooked. Cooking temperatures less than or equal to 100 °C (212 °F) allow some B. cereus spores to survive. This problem is compounded when food is then improperly refrigerated, allowing the endospores to germinate. Cooked foods not meant for either immediate consumption or rapid cooling and refrigeration should be kept at temperatures below 10 °C (50 °F) or above 50 °C (122 °F). Germination and growth generally occur between 10 °C and 50 °C, though some strains are psychrotrophic. Bacterial growth results in production of enterotoxins, one of which is highly resistant to heat and acids (pH levels between 2 and 11); ingestion leads to two types of illness: diarrheal and emetic (vomiting) syndrome. The diarrhetic syndromes observed in patients are thought to stem from the three toxins: hemolysin BL (Hbl), nonhemolytic enterotoxin (Nhe), and cytotoxin K (CytK). The nhe/hbl/cytK genes are located on the chromosome of the bacteria. Transcription of these genes is controlled by PlcR. These genes occur in the taxonomically related B. thuringiensis and B. anthracis, as well. These enterotoxins are all produced in the small intestine of the host, thus thwarting digestion by host endogenous enzymes. The Hbl and Nhe toxins are pore-forming toxins closely related to ClyA of E. coli. The proteins exhibit a conformation known as 'beta-barrel' that can insert into cellular membranes due to a hydrophobic exterior, thus creating pores with hydrophilic interiors. The effect is loss of cellular membrane potential and eventually cell death. CytK is a pore-forming protein more related to other hemolysins.