Table 2. Characteristics of the B. cereus group strains from this study and previously published studies.
Species: 1, B. wiedmannii sp. nov. FSL W8-0169T (n=11 strains); 2, B. cytotoxicus NVH 391-98T (n=5 strains, data from Guinbretière et al., 2013); 3, B. pseudomycoides DSM 12442T (n=7 strains, data from Guinbretière et al., 2013); 4, B. cereus ATCC 14579T (n=13 strains, data from Guinbretière et al., 2013 and this study); 5, B. thuringiensis CIP 53137T (n=8 strains; data from Guinbretière et al., 2013); 6, B. weihenstephanensis WSBC 10204T (n=5 strains, data from Guinbretière et al., 2013); 7, B. mycoides CIP 102472T (n=3 strains data from Guinbretière et al., 2013); 8, B. anthracisNCTC 10340 (n=37 strains; data from Logan et al., 1985 and Guinbretière et al., 2013); 9, B. toyonensis BCT-7112T (data from Jiménez et al., 2013). All species are catalase-positive, Gram-positive rods. All species/strains were positive for acid production from utilization of d-glucose, d-fructose, aesculin and maltose and were negative for acid production from utilization of erythritol, d-arabinose, l-arabinose, d-xylose, l-xylose, d-adonitol, methyl β-d-xylopyranoside, l-sorbose, l-rhamnose, dulcitol, inositol, d-mannitol, d-sorbitol, methyl α-d-mannopyranoside, melibiose, inulin, melezitose, raffinose, xylitol, gentiobiose, d-lyxose, d-tagatose, d-fucose, l-fucose, d-arabitol, l-arabitol, 2-ketogluconate and 5-ketogluconate. All strains were negative for lysine decarboxylase, ornithine decarboxylase, hydrogen sulfide production, urease, tryptophan deaminase and indole production, as confirmed by API 20E strips. +, Positive result; –, negative result; v, variable trait (i.e. some strains gave a positive reaction while others gave a negative reaction); + w, weak positive result. Data are given for the type strains, with the proportion of positive reactions for all tested strains of the same species in parentheses.
| Characteristic | Species | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | |
| Cell diameter >1.0 µm | + | + | + | + | + | + | + | + | + |
| Anaerobic growth | + | + w | + | + | + | + | + | + | + |
| Motile | + (91) | + | + | + | + | + | + | − | + |
| Rhizoid colony | − | − | + | − | − | − | + | − | − |
| Starch hydrolysis | + | − | − | + (67) | + | + | + | + (97) | + |
| Egg yolk lecithinase | + | + w | + w | + | + | + | + | + | + |
| Nitrate reduction | + (73) | + | + | + (81) | + | + | + | + | + |
| Arginine dihydrolase | − | + | + (71) | + (70) | + (67) | + (40) | − (36) | − | + |
| Citrate | + (55) | − (33) | − (11) | + (34) | + (33) | − | − (60) | − | + |
| Gelatin | + | + | + (86) | + | + | + (80) | + (67) | + (70) | + |
| Voges–Proskauer reaction | + | + w | + | + | + | + (60) | + (67) | + | + |
| Glycerol | − | − | + w (17) | − (90) | − (92) | + w (33) | − (96) | − | − |
| Ribose | + | + (67) | + | + | − (81) | + w | + w (67) | + | + |
| Galactose | − | − | − | − | − (38) | − | − (32) | − | − |
| d-Mannose | − | + | − | − (18) | + (25) | − (67) | − | − | − |
| Methyl α-d-glucoside | − | − | − | − | − | − (33) | − (12) | − (3) | + |
| N-Acetylglucosamine | + | + | + | + | + (69) | + | + | + | + |
| Amygdalin | − (36) | + w (67) | − | + w (23) | − | + w (83) | − (50) | − | + w |
| Arbutin | + | + | − (33) | + (82) | + (63) | + | + (84) | v (32) | + |
| Salicin | + | + | + (67) | + (64) | + (75) | + | + (80) | - | + |
| Cellobiose | + | + | − (33) | + (55) | + (63) | + w (83) | + w (75) | − | − |
| Trehalose | + | − | + | + | + | + | + | + | + |
| Glycogen | + | − | + | + (73) | + (88) | + (67) | + | + (92) | + |
| Maltose | + | + | + | + | + | + | + | + | + |
| Sucrose | − | − | − (33) | + (64) | + (38) | − (33) | + (50) | + | + |
| Gentiobiose | − | − | − | − (9) | − | − (33) | − | − | − |
| Potassium gluconate | − (18) | − | − | − (36) | − | − | − (12) | − (3) | − |
| Minimum growth temperature (°C) | 10 (5–10) |
20 | 10 (8–10) |
10 (7–15) |
10 (7–15) |
5 (5–7) |
5 (5–7) |
>10 | 10–45 |
| Maximum growth temperature (°C) | 40 (40–43) |
50 | 40 (40–43) |
45 (40–45) |
45 (40–45) |
37 (35–37) |
37 (35–37) |
<50 | 45 |