Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis of Bacillus cereus group strains

Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE) subtyping has been used extensively to characterize various bacterial species and to facilitate comparative analysis of geographically diverse populations. To this end, standardized protocols for many different genera and species have been developed, particularly through the PulseNet platform. The Bacillus cereus group of bacteria includes a diverse species set, which are of particular importance in food safety as both human pathogens and spoilage organisms. The application of techniques to differentiate strains of B. cereus can be utilized to assist in both disease outbreak investigations, and also in strategies to monitor and control the organism in food production environments. This chapter describes a PFGE method, which may be applied to differentiate B. cereus strains.