An attempt to identify Bacillus cereus by PCR

The DNA band patterns generated by PCR using Primer 4 and template DNAs from various Bacillus strains were compared. Sequence analysis of the 3.2 kb PCR product detected only in B. cereus revealed that the DNA sequence from base 11 to 2962 of the DNA seemed to contain a sequence specific to B. cereus. The primers BCF and BCR that amplify the region between base 1168 and 2320 of the 3.2 kb DNA generated the 1153 bp PCR product with DNAs from B. cereus type strain JCM 2152, 3 cereulide-positive B. cereus strains and 20 strains among 49 B. cereus isolated from dairy products and processing factories. The same band was not amplified with those from 5 strains of B. thuringiensis, other 11 Bacillus species and 12 different bacteria which were not Bacillus.