Asset Details
Do you wish to reserve the book?
The Fate of Bacteria of the Bacillus cereus Group in the Amoeba Environment
Hey, we have placed the reservation for you!
By the way, why not check out events that you can attend while you pick your title.
Oops! Something went wrong.
Looks like we were not able to place the reservation. Kindly try again later.
Are you sure you want to remove the book from the shelf?
The Fate of Bacteria of the Bacillus cereus Group in the Amoeba Environment
Do you wish to request the book?
The Fate of Bacteria of the Bacillus cereus Group in the Amoeba Environment
Please be aware that the book you have requested cannot be checked out. If you would like to checkout this book, you can reserve another copy
We have requested the book for you!
Your request is successful and it will be processed during the Library working hours. Please check the status of your request in My Requests.
Oops! Something went wrong.
Looks like we were not able to place your request. Kindly try again later.
Journal Article
The Fate of Bacteria of the Bacillus cereus Group in the Amoeba Environment
2022
Overview
The Bacillus cereus sensu lato group consists of several closely related species, including B. anthracis, B. cereus sensu stricto, and B. thuringiensis. Spores of these pathogenic bacteria are commonly found in the soil but evidence suggests that they are unable to grow in such a natural environment in the absence of nutrient input. Amoebas have been reported to be an amplifier for several species of pathogenic bacteria and their potential involvement to explain the large amount of B. thuringiensis and B. cereus spores in soil has been frequently proposed. Here, we studied the fate of Bacillus and amoebas when cultured together. We show that the virulence factors produced by B. thuringiensis and B. cereus do not affect the amoeba Acanthamoeba castellanii, which, on the contrary, can phagocytose and effectively digest vegetative Bacillus cells to grow and prevent the formation of cysts. Bacterial spores can germinate in the amoeba environment and the vegetative cells can then form chains or aggregates that appear to be less efficiently phagocyted by the amoeba. The use of transcriptional fusions between fluorescent reporter genes and stationary phase- and sporulation-specific promoters showed that the sporulation process occurs more efficiently in the presence of amoebas than in their absence. Moreover, our results showed the amoeba environment to promote spore germination and allow the bacteria to complete their developmental cycle. Overall, this study suggests that the amoeba-Bacillus interaction creates a virtuous circle in which each protagonist helps the other to develop.
