Incidence, toxin gene profiling, antimicrobial susceptibility, and genetic diversity of Bacillus cereus isolated from quick-frozen food in China. (April 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Guo, Hui; Yu, Pengfei; Yu, Shubo; Wang, Juan; Zhang, Junhui; Zhang, Ying; Liao, Xiyu; Wu, Shi; Ye, Qinghua; Yang, Xiaojuan; Lei, Tao; Zeng, Haiyan; Pang, Rui; Zhang, Jumei; Wu, Qingping; Ding, Yu
• Is Part Of: Lebensmittel-Wissenschaft + Technologie =. Volume 140(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-04
• Subjects: Bacillus cereus -- Biofilm -- Multiple antimicrobial resistance -- Prevalence -- Quick-frozen food; Food industry and trade -- Periodicals; Food -- Composition -- Periodicals; Microbiology -- Periodicals; Nutrition -- Periodicals; 664.005
• DOI: 10.1016/j.lwt.2020.110824
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0023-6438

Abstract

Abstract: Bacillus cereus is a well-known foodborne pathogen around the world and can be found in a variety of foods. However, few studies have been conducted to evaluate the risk of B. cereus in quick-frozen food in China. Hence, we investigated the prevalence, antimicrobial susceptibility, presence of toxin genes, biofilm formation ability, and genetic polymorphisms of B. cereus isolated from quick-frozen food in China. Of the 598 samples collected from 39 cities, 193 were contaminated by B. cereus . Regarding the distribution of toxin genes, 116 out of 224 B. cereus isolates possessed hblA/C/D, nheA/B/C, and cytK-2 . The positive rates for nheA, nheB, and nheC were very high (100.0%, 100.0%, and 88.8%, respectively). In contrast, only nine strains contained the cereulide synthetase encoding gene cesB . Of all the isolates, 94.2% were identified as multiple antibiotic-resistant strains. Genetic polymorphism analyses revealed that 224 strains could be classified into 161 sequence types (STs), of which 92 were new STs. In summary, our study demonstrated that quick-frozen foods were highly contaminated with B. cereus, and this may pose a potential hazard to public health. Highlights: The prevalence of Bacillus cereus isolated from quick frozen food in 39 major cities of China was investigated. The contamination rate of Bacillus cereus was 32.3%. Isolates harbored ces gene and had biofilm forming ability presents a potential risk. ST26 associated with pathogenicity. Common used β-lactams antibiotics demonstrate resistance to the Bacillus cereus.