 | |||||
Bacillus cereus groupRANK: Species groupTAXONOMY: Terrabacteria group -> Firmicutes -> Bacilli -> Bacillales -> Bacillaceae -> Bacillus -> Bacillus cereus group OVERVIEW: The Bacillus cereus group, also known as B. cereus sensu lato, consists of Gram-positive, rod-shaped, spore-forming aerobic bacteria that are widespread in natural environments. At the time of writing this manuscript, this group comprises eleven closely related species: B. anthracis, B. cereus, B. thuringiensis, B. mycoides, B. pseudomycoides, B. weihenstephanensis, B. cytotoxicus, B. toyonensis, “B. gaemokensis”, “B. manliponensis”2, and “B. bingmayongensis” (The names of the last three species are effectively but not yet validly published and thus are in quotation marks throughout this study). The former six species were identified during the 20th century, whereas the remaining five species were classified in recent years. Members of the B. cereus group have a significant impact on human health, agriculture, and the food industry4. For example, B. anthracis is the etiological agent of anthrax and an obligate pathogen that poses a threat to human and herbivore health, owing to the presence of two large plasmids, pXO1 and pXO25. B. cereus is an opportunistic pathogen that often causes two forms of food poisoning, characterized by either nausea and vomiting or abdominal pain and diarrhea. B. thuringiensis is an insect pathogen that is used worldwide in agriculture as a biopesticide based on the production of diverse crystal toxins. In addition, the bacteria of the B. cereus group produce various valuable enzymes and metabolites, degrade different types of pollutants and promote growth of both animals and plants when used as probiotics. This genus contains microbial species that can reside in the human gastrointestinal tract. [PMC 4262072]
|