Characterization of emetic Bacillus weihenstephanensis, a new cereulide-producing bacterium.

Cereulide production has until now been restricted to the species Bacillus cereus. Here we report on two psychrotolerant Bacillus weihenstephanensis strains, MC67 and MC118, that produce cereulide. The strains are atypical with regard to pheno- and genotypic characteristics normally used for identification of emetic B. cereus strains. MC67 and MC118 produced cereulide at temperatures of as low as 8 degrees C.