Bacillus cereus

Rank: Species

Lineage: Bacteria;Firmicutes;Bacilli;Bacillales;Bacillaceae;Bacillus;Bacillus cereus

Description: This organism is a soil-dwelling opportunistic pathogen that causes food poisoning in infected individuals. There are two forms of food poisoning that occur, one is rapid onset (emetic) and the other is late onset (diarrheal). The rapid onset is characterized by nausea and vomiting while the late onset is characterized by diarrhea and abdominal pain. The emetic disease is caused by a small stable dodecadepsipeptide cerulide whereas the diarrheal disease is caused by a heat labile enterotoxin. Some strains produce a potent cytotoxin that forms a pore in the membrane of eukaryotic cells and causes necrotic enteritis (death of intestinal epithelial cells) while the unique tripartite membrane lytic toxin hemolysin BL contributes to the diarrheal disease and destructive infections of the eye. Genetic and genomic analyses have revealed that Bacillus cereus is very similar to Bacillus anthracis and that some strains have plasmids resembling the toxin plasmids of Bacillus anthracis. More >> Less >>

Reference Material:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genome/?term=Bacillus%20cereus

Name	Rank	Genomes	Info
Bacillus	Genus	10
Bacillus cereus	Species	4

Name: Bacillus

Rank: Genus

Lineage:
Bacteria;Firmicutes;Bacilli;Bacillales;Bacillaceae;Bacillus

Description:
Bacillus is a genus of gram-positive, rod-shaped bacteria and a member of the phylum Firmicutes. Bacillus species can be obligate aerobes (oxygen reliant), or facultative anaerobes (having the ability to be aerobic or anaerobic). They will test positive for the enzyme catalase when there has been oxygen used or present. Ubiquitous in nature, Bacillus includes both free-living (nonparasitic) and parasitic pathogenic species. Under stressful environmental conditions, the bacteria can produce oval endospores that are not true 'spores', but to which the bacteria can reduce themselves and remain in a dormant state for very long periods. These characteristics originally defined the genus, but not all such species are closely related, and many have been moved to other genera of the Firmicutes.

Reference Material:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacillus