Bacillus cereus Genome sequencing and assembly

Bacillus cereus is a gram positive, aerobic to facultative aerobic, spore forming rod. B. cereus spores are refractory to extreme environmental conditions including heat, freezing, drying and radiation. The spores of B. cereus are refractory to pasteurization and gamma radiation, a major cause of trouble for the food industry.Focusing on a well-chosen gene family may be a better strategy to differentiate B. cereus from B. thuringiensis. Here, we delineate a toxin gene set (SET 1) common to many species of the B. cereus family, and a second set of toxin genes produced by B. cereus (SET 2). Very few chromosomal genes or sets of genes are unique to one species; B. thuringiensis cry and cyt genes being good examples. SET 3 incorporates members of the cry and the cyt family of delta endotoxins from B. thuringiensis. The three sets of toxin genes are perhaps the best option to resolve this issue with accuracy and unambiguity. Advances in whole genome sequencing based technologies and substantial decrease in cost makes it a powerful and attractive tool, and the best strategy to address this issue.