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Diagnostic properties of three conventional selective plating media for selection of Bacillus cereus, B. thuringiensis and B. weihenstephanensis

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the diagnostic properties of the two selective plating media and a chromogenic medium for identification of Bacillus cereus. The 324 isolates were B. cereus (37%), Bacillus weihenstephanensis (45%) or Bacillus thuringiensis (18%), as identified by a new combination of techniques. All isolates were growing on mannitol–egg yolk–polymyxin agar (MYP), and they did not form acid from mannitol. However, a significant lower number of B. thuringiensis isolates did not show lecithinase activity. All isolates were also growing on polymyxin–egg yolk–mannitol–bromothymol blue agar (PEMBA); however, 11% isolates indicated that they did produce acid from mannitol, and 15% isolates did not show any lecithinase activity. Five of the isolates did not grow at all on the chromogenic agar, and 14 of the growing isolates were β-glucosidase negative. It is concluded that the two recommended selective plating media MYP and PEMBA for detection of B. cereus group bacteria both have their limitations for identification of some B. cereus, B. weihenstephanensis or B. thuringiensis. However, MYP is preferable compared to PEMBA. The chromogenic medium has its own advantages and limitations, and some of the limitations seem to be solved by incubation at 30°C instead of the recommended 37°C.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Tina Thane for excellent and experienced technical assistance. The study was partly financed by an EU-funded research project “AEROBACTICS” (Assessment of the quantity, identity, viability, origin and dispersion of airborne micro-organisms for application in crisis management tools, grant agreement no. SEC6-PR-214400).

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  1. Department of Environmental Science, Aarhus University, P.O. Box 358, Frederiksborgvej 399, 4000, Roskilde, Denmark

    Niels Bohse Hendriksen & Bjarne Munk Hansen

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  1. Niels Bohse Hendriksen
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  2. Bjarne Munk Hansen
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Correspondence to Niels Bohse Hendriksen.

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Hendriksen, N.B., Hansen, B.M. Diagnostic properties of three conventional selective plating media for selection of Bacillus cereus, B. thuringiensis and B. weihenstephanensis . Folia Microbiol 56, 535–539 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12223-011-0079-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12223-011-0079-0

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