Milk-originated Bacillus cereus sensu lato strains harbouring Bacillus anthracis-like plasmids are genetically and phenotypically diverse

Bacillus cereus sensu lato is widely distributed in food products, including raw and processed milk. Plasmids often determine bacterial virulence and toxicity, but their role in the evolution of B. cereus sensu lato is only partly known. Here, we observed that nearly 8% of B. cereus sensu lato isolates were positive for pXO1-like plasmids and 12% for pXO2-like plasmids in raw and ultra-heat-treated (UHT) milk from one dairy plant. However, pXO1-like plasmids were significantly more frequent in raw milk, while pXO2-like plasmids were more frequent in processed milk. Strains from raw and UHT milk were enterotoxigenic, with up to one-fifth of the isolates being psychrotolerant. Phylogenetic assessment using multi-locus sequence typing revealed a polyphyletic structure for these bacilli, with distinct groups of cold-adapted isolates and pathogenic strains (including emetic B. cereus). Populations corresponding to both sampling sites exhibited significant linkage disequilibrium and the presence of purifying selection. The far-from-clonal population structure indicated the presence of sequence types or ecotypes adapted to specific conditions in the dairy industry. A high recombination-to-mutation ratio suggested an important role for horizontal gene transfer among B. cereus sensu lato isolates in milk.