Table 2. Overview of isolate characteristics using several methodologies.
| Character | B. cereus | B. anthracis | B. thuringiensis | B. mycoides | S1-R1P1-FB | S1-R4D1-FB | S1-R6TC1 | S1-R3O1-FB | S2-R3O1-FB-BA1 | S2-R4W1-FB-BA1 | S1-R1J2-FB | S1-R2T1-FB | S1-R4H1-FB | S2-R3J1-FB-BA1 | S1-R5C1-FB |
| 16S rDNA analysisby online database searches | B. cereus group | ||||||||||||||
| B. cereus | B. weihenstephanensis | Inconclusive | |||||||||||||
| PCR of gyrB: | |||||||||||||||
| B. cereus | + | + | + | + | + | + | − | − | − | − | − | − | |||
| B. anthracis | + | − | − | − | − | − | (+) | + | + | + | + | + | |||
| B. thuringiensis | + | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | |||
| Colony morphology | ¤ | ¤ | ¤ | ¤ | ¤ | Δ | X | X | X | X | ¤ | ||||
| β-haemolysis | + | −/(+) | + | −/(+) | + | + | + | (+) | (+) | + | + | + | + | + | + |
| Motility | + | − | + | − | + | (+) | + | (+) | (+) | + | + | + | + | + | + |
| Parasporal crystals | − | − | + | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − |
| Acetoin production | + | + | + | + | + | − | + | + | − | + | + | + | + | + | + |
| Casein hydrolysis | + | + | + | + | − | + | − | − | − | + | + | + | + | + | + |
| Penicillin susceptibility | R | S/(R) | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | |
| Capsule production | − | +/− | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − |
| Gamma phage susceptibility* | − | + | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | (+) |
| Arginine dihydrolase | v | − | + | V | + | + | + | + | + | − | + | + | + | + | + |
| Acid from: | |||||||||||||||
| Glycerol | + | − | + | + | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − |
| Salicin | + | − | (+) | (+) | + | + | + | + | + | + | (+) | − | (+) | − | (+) |
| PEA | − | + | + | + | + | + | (+) | + | + | + | + | + | |||
| VITEK 2 Systems BCL card | |||||||||||||||
| L-aspartate arylamidase | ND | ND | ND | ND | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | + |
| Leucine arylamidase | ND | ND | ND | ND | + | + | + | (+) | + | + | (+) | (+) | (+) | + | + |
| Alanine arylamidase | ND | ND | ND | ND | + | + | + | + | + | + | − | − | − | − | − |
| Tyrosine arylamidase | ND | ND | ND | ND | + | + | (+) | + | + | + | + | + | + | + | + |
| Cyclodextrine | ND | ND | ND | ND | − | − | − | − | + | − | − | − | − | (+) | − |
| Glycine arylamidase | ND | ND | ND | ND | − | − | − | − | − | − | + | − | (−) | − | (−) |
| D-mannose | ND | ND | ND | ND | − | − | − | − | − | + | − | − | − | − | − |
| N-acetyl-D-glucosamine | ND | ND | ND | ND | + | + | + | + | + | + | + | − | + | + | (−) |
| β-glucosidase | ND | ND | ND | ND | + | + | + | + | − | + | − | − | − | − | − |
| Pyruvate | ND | ND | ND | ND | (+) | + | + | (+) | + | (+) | (+) | + | + | + | + |
| α-glucosidase | ND | ND | ND | ND | − | − | − | (+) | + | − | − | − | (−) | (−) | − |
| Growth in 6.5% NaCl | ND | ND | ND | ND | + | + | + | + | + | − | + | + | + | + | + |
| Kanamycin susceptibility | ND | ND | ND | ND | R | R | R | R | S | S | R | R | R | R | R |
| Tetrazolium red | ND | ND | ND | ND | − | + | (−) | + | − | − | − | + | (−) | + | − |
Abbreviations: +, positive; v, variable; (+) or (−), weak reaction; −, negative; S, susceptible; R, resistant; ND, not determined. Symbols for colony morphology indicate similarity and differences. All data were obtained in this study, except data for B. cereus, B. anthracis, B. thuringiensis and B. mycoides that were compiled [21], [22].
*Gamma phage susceptibility is not truly specific for B. anthracis [32].