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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Food Microbiology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1519202

Effect of environmental stress factors on the expression of virulence genes and pathogenicity of lethal Bacillus cereus of bovine origin

Provisionally accepted
Qinglei Meng Qinglei Meng 1Lili Song Lili Song 2Shanshan Chi Shanshan Chi 1Haifeng Wang Haifeng Wang 3Jie Li Jie Li 4Yunjiao Chen Yunjiao Chen 1Zhilin Liu Zhilin Liu 1Xin Zhang Xin Zhang 1Zelin Jia Zelin Jia 1Cui Jiayu Cui Cui Jiayu Cui 1Xueli Wang Xueli Wang 1*
  • 1 Inner Mongolia University for Nationalities, Tongliao, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China
  • 2 Xilingol Vocational College, Xilinhot, China
  • 3 Tongliao Institute of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Sciences, Tongliao, China
  • 4 Hure Banner Animal Disease Prevention and Control Center, Tongliao, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Objective: Bacillus cereus (B. cereus) can be used as a probiotic or produce a variety of toxins that are pathogenic to humans and animals. Environmental stressors can affect the growth process of B. cereus and the expression of its virulence genes. Due to the limitations of methods such as pharmacological disinfection methods (there are limits to the use of antibiotics) and chemical disinfection methods (chemical methods may produce residues), attempts can be made to remove and reduce B. cereus infections through environmental stress factors.In this study, the expression of four virulence genes (nheA, hblD, cytK and entFM) of bovine-origin lethal B. cereus was investigated by qPCR under the effect of different environmental stressors. The extent of pathological damage to various organs of mice by B. cereus was observed by pathological sections.The results showed that high temperature could inhibit the expression of B. cereus virulence genes. Expression of B. cereus virulence genes was affected under the influence of pH. Different salt concentrations could make the B. cereus virulence genes show low expression. Under a single environmental stressors, nheA, hblD, cytK and entFM had the lowest expression at 40 ℃, pH 8.0, and were lowly expressed at all salt concentrations except the control group. The action of multiple environmental stressors affect the expression of virulence genes. Under multiple environmental stressors, nheA, hblD and cytK were least expressed at a temperature of 40 ℃, pH 6.0, and salt concentration of 3.0 %, and entFM was least expressed at a temperature of 20 ℃, pH 8.0, and salt concentration of 1.5 %. Animal pathogenicity tests have shown that environmental stressors affect the virulence of B. cereus.The level of virulence gene expression in B. cereus can be reduced by environmental stress factors, thus further reducing the risk of B. cereus to human health. This study provides some reference for the prevention and control of B. cereus disease.

    Keywords: environmental stressors, lethal B. cereus, Fluorescence quantitative PCR, Expression of virulence genes, pathological sections

    Received: 29 Oct 2024; Accepted: 30 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Meng, Song, Chi, Wang, Li, Chen, Liu, Zhang, Jia, Cui and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Xueli Wang, Inner Mongolia University for Nationalities, Tongliao, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.