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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, December 1999, p. 5436-5442, Vol. 65, No. 12
0099-2240/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
The Hemolytic Enterotoxin HBL Is Broadly
Distributed among Species of the Bacillus cereus
Group
Birgit M.
Prüß,1,
Richard
Dietrich,2
Birgit
Nibler,1
Erwin
Märtlbauer,2 and
Siegfried
Scherer1,*
Institut für Mikrobiologie, FML
Weihenstephan, Technische Universität München, D-85350
Freising,1 and Lehrstuhl für
Hygiene und Technologie der Milch, Tierärztliche
Fakultät, Ludwig-Maximilians Universität, D-80539
Munich,2 Germany
Received 22 June 1999/Accepted 4 October 1999
The prevalence of the hemolytic enterotoxin complex HBL was
determined in all species of the Bacillus cereus group with
the exception of Bacillus anthracis. hblA, encoding the
binding subunit B, was detected by PCR and Southern analysis and was
confirmed by partial sequencing of 18 strains. The sequences formed two clusters, one including B. cereus and Bacillus
thuringiensis strains and the other one consisting of
Bacillus mycoides, Bacillus
pseudomycoides, and Bacillus weihenstephanensis
strains. From eight B. thuringiensis strains, the
enterotoxin gene hblA could be amplified. Seven of them also expressed the complete HBL complex as determined
with specific antibodies against the L1, L2,
and B components. Eleven of 16 B. mycoides strains, all 3 B. pseudomyoides strains, 9 of 15 B. weihenstephanensis strains, and 10 of 23 B. cereus
strains carried hblA. While HBL was not expressed in the
B. pseudomycoides strains, the molecular assays were in
accordance with the immunological assays for the majority of the
remaining strains. In summary, the hemolytic enterotoxin HBL seems to
be broadly distributed among strains of the B. cereus
group and relates neither to a certain species nor to a specific
environment. The consequences of this finding for food safety
considerations need to be evaluated.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institut
für Mikrobiologie, FML Weihenstephan, TU München,
Weihenstephaner Berg 3, 85350 Freising, Germany. Phone:
49-8161-713516. Fax: 49-8161-714512. E-mail:
Siegfried.Scherer{at}lrz.tu-muenchen.de.

Present address: Department of Microbiology and Immunology,
University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago IL 60612-7344.
Applied and Environmental Microbiology, December 1999, p. 5436-5442, Vol. 65, No. 12
0099-2240/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
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