Differentiation between probiotic and wild-type Bacillus cereus isolates by antibiotic susceptibility test and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR).

Animal feed often contains probiotic Bacillus strains used as feed additives. Spores of the non-pathogenic B. cereus var. toyoi (product name Toyocerin) are used. Distinguishing between toxic wild-type Bacillus cereus strains and this probiotic strain is essential for evaluating the quality and risk of feed. Bacillus cereus CIP 5832 (product name Paciflor was used as probiotic strain until 2001. The properties of the two probiotic strains are quite similar. Differentiating between probiotic strains and wild-type B. cereus strains is not easy. ss-lactam antibiotics such as penicillin and cefamandole exhibit an inhibition zone in the agar diffusion test of probiotic B. cereus strains which are not seen for wild-type strains. Therefore, performing the agar diffusion test first may make sense before FT-IR testing. When randomly checking these strains by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), the probiotic B. cereus strains were separated from wild-type B. cereus/B. thuringiensis/B. mycoides/B. weihenstephanensis strains by means of hierarchical cluster analysis. The discriminatory information was contained in the spectral windows 3000-2800 cm(-1) ("fatty acid region"), 1200-900 cm(-1) ("carbohydrate region") and 900-700 cm(-1) ("fingerprint region"). It is concluded that FT-IR spectroscopy can be used for the rapid quality control and risk analysis of animal feed containing probiotic B. cereus strains.

Isolation and detection of Listeria monocytogenes using fluorogenic and chromogenic substrates for phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C.

The BCM Listeria monocytogenes detection system (LMDS) consists of a selective preenrichment broth (LMPEB), selective enrichment broth (LMSEB), selective/differential plating medium (LMPM), and identification on a confirmatory plating medium (LMCM). The efficacy of the BCM LMDS was determined using pure cultures and naturally and artificially contaminated environmental sponges. The BCM LMPEB allowed the growth of Listeria and resuscitation of heat-injured L. monocytogenes. The BCM LMSEB, which contains the fluorogenic substrate 4-methylumbelliferyl-myo-inositol-1-phosphate and detects phosphatidylinositol phospholipase C (PI-PLC) activity, provided a presumptive positive test for the presence of pathogenic Listeria (L. monocytogenes and L. ivanovii) after 24 h at 35 degrees C. An initial inoculum of 10 to 100 CFU/ml of L. monocytogenes in BCM LMSEB yielded a fluorogenic response after 24 h. On BCM LMPM, L. monocytogenes and L. ivanovii were the two Listeria species forming turquoise convex colonies (1.0 to 2.5 mm in diameter) from PI-PLC activity on the chromogenic substrate, 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indoxyl-myo-inositol-1-phosphate. L. monocytogenes was distinguished from L. ivanovii by either its fluorescence on BCM LMCM or acid production from rhamnose. False-positive organisms (Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus thuringiensis, and yeasts) were eliminated by at least one of the media in the BCM LMDS. Using a pure culture system, the BCM LMDS detected one to two L. monocytogenes cells from a sponge rehydrated in 10 ml of DE neutralizing broth. In an analysis of 162 environmental sponges from facilities inspected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the values for identification of L. monocytogenes by BCM LMDS and the USDA method were 30 and 14 sites, respectively, with sensitivity and specificity values of 85.7 and 100.0% versus 40.0 and 66.1%, respectively. No false-positive organisms were isolated by BCM LMDS, whereas 26.5% of the sponges tested by the USDA method produced false-positive results.