A Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA Marker Specific for the Bacillus cereus Group Is Diagnostic forBacillus anthracis

ABSTRACT Aiming to develop a DNA marker specific for Bacillus anthracis and able to discriminate this species fromBacillus cereus, Bacillus thuringiensis, andBacillus mycoides, we applied the randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) fingerprinting technique to a collection of 101 strains of the genus Bacillus, including 61 strains of theB. cereus group. An 838-bp RAPD marker (SG-850) specific for B. cereus, B. thuringiensis, B. anthracis, and B. mycoides was identified. This fragment included a putative (366-nucleotide) open reading frame highly homologous to the ypuA gene of Bacillus subtilis. The restriction analysis of the SG-850 fragment withAluI distinguished B. anthracis from the other species of the B. cereus group.

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