Open AccessEvidence for non‐ribosomal peptide synthetase production of cereulide (the emetic toxin) in Bacillus cereus
Author(s) -
Horwood Paul F,
Burgess Graham W,
Jane Oakey H
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.2004.tb09664.x
Subject(s) - bacillus cereus , cereus , biology , ribosomal rna , gene , microbiology and biotechnology , nucleic acid sequence , toxin , 23s ribosomal rna , enterotoxin , bacteria , biochemistry , genetics , escherichia coli , ribosome , rna
Little is known about the process whereby the emetic toxin (or cereulide) of Bacillus cereus is produced. Two cereulide‐producing strains of B. cereus were cloned and sequenced following polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification with primers that were specific for conserved regions of non‐ribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) genes. The cloned regions of the B. cereus strains were highly homologous to conserved regions of other peptide synthetase nucleotide sequences. Primers were designed for two variable regions of the NRPS gene sequence to ensure specificity for the emetic strains. A total of 86 B. cereus strains of known emetic or non‐emetic activity were screened using these primers. All of the emetic strains ( n =30) displayed a 188 bp band following amplification and gel electrophoresis. We have developed an improved method of identifying emetic strains of B. cereus and provided evidence that cereulide is produced by peptide synthetases.