About this item:

89 Views | 28 Downloads

Author Notes:

JLHF, jose.hernandezf@cinvestav.mx

JCG, juan.campos@uaq.mx

Conceptualization, J.C.G. and J.L.H.F.; methodology and software, A.G.C.H., V.G.O., E.Á.H., J.N.R., and F.J.F.G.; writing—original draft preparation, J.C.G., J.L.H.F., J.L.A.G., M.Á.R.L., J.A.R.M., A.F.M., and G.H.J.; writing—review and editing, J.C.G., G.H.J., J.L.H.F., M.C.G.G., and S.R.G.; secured funding for the project and the discussion of the final results, conclusions, and project administration, J.C.G. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Subject:

Research Funding:

This study was partially financed by the Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro (FONDEC-UAQ-2019-FCQ202001 and FONDO “QUÍMICA SOMOS TODOS” 2020).

Keywords:

  • Bacillus cereus sensu lato
  • tRNACys-PCR
  • antibiotics resistance
  • Mexican chili powder

Detection of bacillus cereus sensu lato isolates posing potential health risks in mexican chili powder

Show all authors Show less authors

Tools:

Journal Title:

Microorganisms

Volume:

Volume 9, Number 11

Publisher:

Type of Work:

Article | Final Publisher PDF

Abstract:

The potential presence of spore-forming bacteria related to the Bacillus cereus group in Mexican chili powder elaborated from Capsicum annuum L. is of commercial and clinical interest, because chili powder is an essential spice in the Mexican diet and in diets around the globe. To facilitate detection and isolation of members of this group of spore-forming bacteria from Mexican chili powder samples, we identified colonies that grew on agar medium selective for Bacillus cereus sensu lato, supplemented with polymyxin B (10 µg/mL) and ampicillin (10 to 100 µg/mL). The presumptive B. cereus (s.l.) isolates were tested using a tRNACys-PCR-based approach and the results identified species related phylogenetically to B. cereus, B. thuringiensis, and B. toyonensis. Their toxigenic potential was assessed by serological tests to detect enterotoxins (Nhe and Hbl) and by PCR targeting the hemolysin BL (hbl) component C (hblC) and non-hemolytic enterotoxin component A (nheA). The antibiotic profiles of the isolates showed a high resistance to β-lactams (100% of the isolates), trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (100%), tetracycline (90%), erythromycin (77%), clindamycin (74%), and chloramphenicol (42%). Our results indicate the presence of B. cereus s.l. with toxigenic characteristics in Mexican chili powder. Because of the potential for these organisms to cause disease through their production of various toxins, and resistance to antibiotics, we recommend that a microbiological risk assessment must be considered in the Mexican regulatory requirements.

Copyright information:

© 2021 by the authors.

This is an Open Access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Export to EndNote