The toxicological spectrum of the Bacillus cereus toxin cereulide points towards niche‐specific specialisation

Most microbes share their environmental niches with very different forms of life thereby engaging in specialised relationships to enable their persistence. The bacterium Bacillus cereus occurs ubiquitously in the environment with certain strain backgrounds causing foodborne and opportunistic infecti...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental microbiology 2023-11, Vol.25 (11), p.2231-2249
Main Authors: Jenull, Sabrina, Bauer, Tobias, Silbermayr, Katja, Dreer, Maximilian, Stark, Timo D., Ehling‐Schulz, Monika
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bacillus cereus
Cereulide
Ecological function
Ecology
Environmental effects
Insects
Niches
Potassium
Toxins
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Summary:Most microbes share their environmental niches with very different forms of life thereby engaging in specialised relationships to enable their persistence. The bacterium Bacillus cereus occurs ubiquitously in the environment with certain strain backgrounds causing foodborne and opportunistic infections in humans. The emetic lineage of B. cereus is capable of producing the toxin cereulide, which evokes emetic illnesses. Although food products favouring the accumulation of cereulide are known, the ecological role of cereulide and the environmental niche of emetic B. cereus remain elusive. To better understand the ecology of cereulide‐producing B. cereus, we systematically assayed the toxicological spectrum of cereulide on a variety of organisms belonging to different kingdoms. As cereulide is a potassium ionophore, we further tested the effect of environmental potassium levels on the action of cereulide. We found that adverse effects of cereulide exposure are species‐specific, which can be exacerbated with increased environmental potassium. Additionally, we demonstrate that cereulide is produced within an insect cadaver indicating its potential ecological function for a saprophytic lifestyle. Collectively, distinct cereulide susceptibilities of other organisms may reflect its role in enabling competitive niche specialization of emetic B. cereus.
ISSN:1462-2912
1462-2920
DOI:10.1111/1462-2920.16454