The Water Cycle, a Potential Source of the Bacterial Pathogen Bacillus cereus

Figure 3

Fate of B. cereus ss vegetative cells introduced into the soil. Counts of CFUs and thermoresistant CFUs (i.e., spores) of B. cereus ss were performed over time. Two independent experiments (triangles, replicate 1; circles, replicate 2) are presented. Full symbols and full lines: B. cereus ss total CFU; open symbols and dashed lines: B. cereus ss thermoresistant CFU; grey horizontal line: detection threshold (1.08 log CFU/g). The data for the spores at time 0 were below the detection threshold but were arbitrarily set at 1 CFU/g (i.e., 0 log CFU/g) because growth conditions for the preparation of the inoculum were not appropriate to allow sporulation.