The potential of flow cytometry in the study of Bacillus cereus

Flow cytometry (FCM) is a rapid method allowing the acquisition of multiparametric data from thousands of individual cells within a sample. As well as measuring the intrinsic light scattering properties of cells, a plethora of fluorescent dyes may be employed to yield information on macromolecule content, surface antigens present or physiological status. Despite FCM's indispensability within other fields e.g. immunology, it is underutilized within microbiological research. In this review, a strong case is presented for the potential of FCM in the study of Gram-positive spore-former, Bacillus cereus. Previous reports where FCM was successfully used in the study of B. cereus are reviewed along with relevant studies involving other members of the genus. Under headings reflecting common research themes associated with B. cereus, specific instances where FCM has generated novel data, providing a unique insight into the organism, are discussed. Further applications are posited, based on the authors' own research with FCM and B. cereus and work extant in the broader field of microbial cytometry. The authors conclude that, while the expense of equipment and reagents is an undeniable disadvantage, FCM is a technique capable of generating significantly novel data and allows the design and execution of experiments that are not possible with any other technique.