[1] The specific name, cereus, meaning "waxy" in Latin, refers to the appearance of colonies grown on blood agar.

They have a wide range of virulence factors, including phospholipase C, cereulide, sphingomyelinase, metalloproteases, and cytotoxin K, many of which are regulated via quorum sensing.

[10] Colonies of B. cereus were originally isolated by Percy F. Frankland from a gelatine plate left exposed to the air in a cow shed in 1887.

Most strains are mesophilic, having an optimal temperature between 25 °C and 37 °C, and neutralophilic, preferring neutral pH, but some have been found to grow in environments with much more extreme conditions.

The layer was first discovered by the use of scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), however the images taken did not have resolution high enough to determine the precise location of the silica.

Bacillus cereus can metabolize several different compounds to create energy, including carbohydrates, proteins, peptides, and amino acids.

[21] An isolate of a bacterium found to produce PHBs was identified as B. cereus through analysis of 16S rRNA sequences as well as similarity of morphological and biochemical characteristics.

PHBs may be produced when there is excess carbon or limited essential nutrients present in the environment, and they are later broken down by the microbe as a fuel source under starvation conditions.

[24] Following exposure to non-lethal acid shock at pH 5.4-5.5, the arginine deiminase gene in B. cereus, arcA, shows substantial up-regulation.

A small peptide called PapR acts as the effector in the quorum-sensing pathway, and when reimported into the cell, it interacts with PlcR to activate transcription of these virulence genes.

Because of B. cereus' ability to produce lecithinase and its inability to ferment mannitol, there are some proper selective media for its isolation and identification such as mannitol-egg yolk-polymyxin (MYP) and polymyxin-pyruvate-egg yolk-mannitol-bromothymol blue agar (PEMBA).

[28] The Central Public Health Laboratory in the United Kingdom tests for motility, hemolysis, rhizoid growth, susceptibility to γ-phage, and fermentation of ammonium salt-based glucose but no mannitol, arabinose, or xylose.

Evidence of bioremediation potential by Bacillus cereus was also found in the aquatic ecosystem, where organic nitrogen and phosphorus wastes polluting a eutrophic lake were broken down in the presence of B.

[39] Bacillus foodborne illnesses occur due to survival of the bacterial endospores when contaminated food is not, or is inadequately, cooked.

[44] Bacterial growth results in production of enterotoxins, one of which is highly resistant to heat and acids (pH levels between 2 and 11);[45] ingestion leads to two types of illness: diarrheal and emetic (vomiting) syndrome.

[14] The diarrhetic syndromes observed in patients are thought to stem from the three toxins: hemolysin BL (Hbl), nonhemolytic enterotoxin (Nhe), and cytotoxin K (CytK).

The proteins exhibit a conformation known as a "beta-barrel" that can insert into cellular membranes due to a hydrophobic exterior, thus creating pores with hydrophilic interiors.

Cereulide is believed to bind to 5-hydroxytryptamine 3 (5-HT3) serotonin receptors, activating them and leading to increased afferent vagus nerve stimulation.

[58] A case study was published in 2019 of a catheter-related bloodstream infection of B. cereus in a 91-year-old male previously being treated with hemodialysis via PermCath for end-stage renal disease.

He presented with chills, tachypnea, and high-grade fever, his white blood cell count and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP) were significantly elevated, and CT imaging revealed a thoracic aortic aneurysm.

[62][63][64][65][66] In 2014, 23 newborns in the UK receiving total parenteral nutrition contaminated with B. cereus developed sepsis, with three of the infants later dying as a result of infection.

In wet heat (poaching, simmering, boiling, braising, stewing, pot roasting, steaming), spores require more than 5 minutes at 121 °C (250 °F) at the coldest spot to be destroyed.

In dry heat (grilling, broiling, baking, roasting, searing, sautéing), 120 °C (248 °F) for 1 hour kills all spores on the exposed surface.

[24] B. cereus and other members of Bacillus are not easily killed by alcohol; they have been known to colonize distilled liquors and alcohol-soaked swabs and pads in numbers sufficient to cause infection.

This strain, known as GW-01, can break down β-CY at a significant rate when the bacterial cells are in high concentrations relative to the antimicrobial agent.

[72] Bacillus cereus group bacteria, notably B. cereus and B. thuringiensis, are also pathogenic to multiple aquatic organisms including Chinese softshell turtle (Pelodiscus sinensis), causing infection characterized by gross lesions such as hepatic congestion and enlarged spleen with high mortality.

The genome is composed of about 15-kilobase, linear, double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) with long, inverted terminal-repeat sequences (100 base pairs).