Urban-Adjacent Soils as a Global Reservoir of Toxigenic and Antimicrobial-Resistant Bacillus cereus Sensu Lato
- 1Department of Microbiology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, University of Bialystok, Ciolkowskiego 1J Street, 15-245 Bialystok, Poland
- 2Biotechnology Students Scientific Club, Faculty of Biology, University of Bialystok, Ciolkowskiego 1J Street, 15-245 Bialystok, Poland
- 3Laboratory of Cytobiochemistry, Faculty of Biology, University of Bialystok, Ciolkowskiego 1J Street, 15-245 Bialystok, Poland
Abstract
Bacillus cereus sensu lato (B. cereus s.l.) is ubiquitous in soil, but the extent to which urban-adjacent soils act as reservoirs of antimicrobial-resistant and potentially toxigenic lineages remains poorly understood globally. We analysed 243 B. cereus s.l. isolates representing unique sequence types from ten urban locations worldwide. Population structure was assessed by multilocus sequence typing and phylogenetic analyses, antimicrobial susceptibility by disk diffusion and MIC determination, and the presence and expression of nheA, hblA, and cytK by PCR and qPCR. Isolates from the same locations clustered on the phylogenetic tree more frequently than expected by chance, although isolates from different regions remained widely intermingled. Selected lineages also showed significant latitudinal distributions. Antimicrobial susceptibility varied markedly among locations, with frequent ampicillin resistance and geographic differences in cumulative elevated MIC burden that were not consistently associated with local phylogenetic clustering. These patterns may reflect region-specific anthropogenic selective pressures. The nheA gene was detected in all isolates, whereas hblA and cytK occurred in approximately half, and neither gene carriage nor relative expression was associated with elevated MIC burden. Urban-adjacent soils therefore harbour phylogenetically diverse B. cereus s.l. populations with widespread enterotoxin-associated genetic potential and geographically heterogeneous antimicrobial resistance.
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BibTeX
@article{bartoszewicz2026urbanadjacent,
title = {{Urban-Adjacent Soils as a Global Reservoir of Toxigenic and Antimicrobial-Resistant Bacillus cereus Sensu Lato}},
author = {Marek Bartoszewicz and Milena Maliszewska and Urszula Czyżewska},
journal = {International Journal of Molecular Sciences},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.3390/ijms27188293},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/27/18/8293},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Urban-Adjacent Soils as a Global Reservoir of Toxigenic and Antimicrobial-Resistant Bacillus cereus Sensu Lato
AU - Marek Bartoszewicz
AU - Milena Maliszewska
AU - Urszula Czyżewska
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/17
JO - International Journal of Molecular Sciences
DO - 10.3390/ijms27188293
UR - https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/27/18/8293
AB - Bacillus cereus sensu lato (B. cereus s.l.) is ubiquitous in soil, but the extent to which urban-adjacent soils act as reservoirs of antimicrobial-resistant and potentially toxigenic lineages remains poorly understood globally. We analysed 243 B. cereus s.l. isolates representing unique sequence types from ten urban locations worldwide. Population structure was assessed by multilocus sequence typing and phylogenetic analyses, antimicrobial susceptibility by disk diffusion and MIC determination, and the presence and expression of nheA, hblA, and cytK by PCR and qPCR. Isolates from the same locations clustered on the phylogenetic tree more frequently than expected by chance, although isolates from different regions remained widely intermingled. Selected lineages also showed significant latitudinal distributions. Antimicrobial susceptibility varied markedly among locations, with frequent ampicillin resistance and geographic differences in cumulative elevated MIC burden that were not consistently associated with local phylogenetic clustering. These patterns may reflect region-specific anthropogenic selective pressures. The nheA gene was detected in all isolates, whereas hblA and cytK occurred in approximately half, and neither gene carriage nor relative expression was associated with elevated MIC burden. Urban-adjacent soils therefore harbour phylogenetically diverse B. cereus s.l. populations with widespread enterotoxin-associated genetic potential and geographically heterogeneous antimicrobial resistance.
SN - 1422-0067
ER -