Genomic diversity and relationship of Bacillus thuringiensis and Bacillus cereus by multi-REP-PCR fingerprinting

The genomic diversity and relationship among 56 Bacillus thuringiensis and Bacillus cereus type strains were investigated by multi-REP-PCR fingerprinting consisting of three PCR reactions targeting the enterobacterial ERIC1 and ERIC2 and the streptococcal BOXAIR consensus sequences. A total of 113 polymorphic bands were generated in the REP-PCR profiles that allowed tracing of a single dendrogram with three major groups. Bacillus cereus strains clustered together in the A and B groups. Most of the B. thuringiensis strains clustered in group C, which included groups of serovars with a within-group similarity higher than 40% as follows: darmstadiensis, israelensis, and morrisoni; aizawai, kenyae, pakistani, and thompsoni; canadensis, entomocidus, galleriae, kurstaki, and tolworthi; alesti, dendrolimus, and kurstaki; and finitimus, sotto, and thuringiensis. Multi-REP-PCR fingerprinting clustered B. thuringiensis serovars in agreement with previously developed multilocus sequence typing schemes, indicating that it represents a rapid shortcut for addressing the genetic relationship of unknown strains with the major known serovars.