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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,dagger 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.

dagger 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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