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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, September 2006, p. 5884-5894, Vol. 72, No. 9
0099-2240/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.00780-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Quantification of the Effects of Salt Stress and Physiological State on Thermotolerance of Bacillus cereus ATCC 10987 and ATCC 14579

Heidy M. W. den Besten,1,2* Marios Mataragas,3 Roy Moezelaar,1,4 Tjakko Abee,1,2 and Marcel H. Zwietering2

Wageningen Centre for Food Sciences (WCFS), P.O. Box 557, 6700 AN Wageningen, The Netherlands,1 Wageningen University and Research Centre, Laboratory of Food Microbiology, P.O. Box 8129, 6700 EV Wageningen, The Netherlands,2 Agricultural University of Athens, Laboratory of Food Quality Control and Hygiene, Iera Odos 75, 118 55 Athens, Greece,3 Wageningen University and Research Centre, Food Technology Centre, P.O. Box 17, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands4

Received 4 April 2006/ Accepted 16 June 2006

The food-borne pathogen Bacillus cereus can acquire enhanced thermal resistance through multiple mechanisms. Two Bacillus cereus strains, ATCC 10987 and ATCC 14579, were used to quantify the effects of salt stress and physiological state on thermotolerance. Cultures were exposed to increasing concentrations of sodium chloride for 30 min, after which their thermotolerance was assessed at 50°C. Linear and nonlinear microbial survival models, which cover a wide range of known inactivation curvatures for vegetative cells, were fitted to the inactivation data and evaluated. Based on statistical indices and model characteristics, biphasic models with a shoulder were selected and used for quantification. Each model parameter reflected a survival characteristic, and both models were flexible, allowing a reduction of parameters when certain phenomena were not present. Both strains showed enhanced thermotolerance after preexposure to (non)lethal salt stress conditions in the exponential phase. The maximum adaptive stress response due to salt preexposure demonstrated for exponential-phase cells was comparable to the effect of physiological state on thermotolerance in both strains. However, the adaptive salt stress response was less pronounced for transition- and stationary-phase cells. The distinct tailing of strain ATCC 10987 was attributed to the presence of a subpopulation of spores. The existence of a stable heat-resistant subpopulation of vegetative cells could not be demonstrated for either of the strains. Quantification of the adaptive stress response might be instrumental in understanding adaptation mechanisms and will allow the food industry to develop more accurate and reliable stress-integrated predictive modeling to optimize minimal processing conditions.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Wageningen University and Research Centre, Laboratory of Food Microbiology, P.O. Box 8129, 6700 EV Wageningen, The Netherlands. Phone: 31-317-484977. Fax: 31-317-484978. E-mail: heidy.denbesten{at}wur.nl.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, September 2006, p. 5884-5894, Vol. 72, No. 9
0099-2240/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.00780-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • den Besten, H. M. W., Mols, M., Moezelaar, R., Zwietering, M. H., Abee, T. (2009). Phenotypic and Transcriptomic Analyses of Mildly and Severely Salt-Stressed Bacillus cereus ATCC 14579 Cells. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 75: 4111-4119 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • den Besten, H. M. W., Ingham, C. J., van Hylckama Vlieg, J. E. T., Beerthuyzen, M. M., Zwietering, M. H., Abee, T. (2007). Quantitative Analysis of Population Heterogeneity of the Adaptive Salt Stress Response and Growth Capacity of Bacillus cereus ATCC 14579. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73: 4797-4804 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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