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An improved method for detecting cytostatic toxin (emetic toxin) of Bacillus cereus and its application to food
T Mikami1, T Horikawa, T Murakami
1Department of Microbiology, Tohoku College of Pharmacy, Sendai, Japan.
FEMS Microbiology Letters
|June 1, 1994
Abstract:
We developed an improved HEp-2 cell assay method for the detection of Bacillus cereus toxin, which affects the proliferation of HEp-2 cells. The cytostatic toxin was stable upon exposure to heat, pH 2, pH 11 and trypsin, which suggests it is an emetic. Using the HEp-2 cell assay, we examined the distribution and contamination of B. cereus strains that produced an emetic toxin in various foods. Although there were 228 enterotoxin producers among 310 B. cereus strains obtained from foods, 16 of them produced the cytostatic type (emetic toxin). All of the strains that produced the cytostatic toxin were of the H.1 serotype.