Biochemical Test of Bacillus cereus

Biochemical Test of Bacillus cereus
Biochemical Test of Bacillus cereus
­Basic CharacteristicsProperties (Bacillus cereus)
CatalasePositive (+ve)
CitratePositive (+ve)
Gelatin HydrolysisNegative (-ve)
Gram StainingPositive (+ve)
Growth in KCNPositive (+ve)
HemolysisPositive (+ve)
IndoleNegative (-ve)
MotilityPositive (+ve)
MR (Methyl Red)Negative (-ve)
Nitrate ReductionVariable
OxidaseNegative (-ve)
PigmentNegative (-ve)
ShapeRods
SporePositive (+ve)
VP (Voges Proskauer)Positive (+ve)
Fermentation of
AdonitolNegative (-ve)
ArabinoseNegative (-ve)
ArabitolNegative (-ve)
CellobioseVariable
FructosePositive (+ve)
GalactoseNegative (-ve)
GlucosePositive (+ve)
GlycerolPositive (+ve)
GlycogenPositive (+ve)
InositolNegative (-ve)
InulinNegative (-ve)
LactoseNegative (-ve)
MaltosePositive (+ve)
MannitolNegative (-ve)
MannoseNegative (-ve)
MelibioseNegative (-ve)
RaffinoseNegative (-ve)
RhamnoseNegative (-ve)
RibosePositive (+ve)
SalicinVariable
SorbitolNegative (-ve)
StarchPositive (+ve)
SucroseVariable
TrehalosePositive (+ve)
XyloseNegative (-ve)
Enzymatic Reactions
Acetate UtilizationVariable
Arginine DehydrolaseVariable
Casein HydrolysisPositive (+ve)
Esculin HydrolysisPositive (+ve)
LecithinasePositive (+ve)
LysineNegative (-ve)
Ornithine DecarboxylaseNegative (-ve)
Phenylalanine DeaminaseNegative (-ve)
Tyrosine HydrolysisPositive (+ve)

About Author

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Sagar Aryal, PhD

Sagar Aryal is a microbiologist and a scientific blogger. He completed his Ph.D. degree in Microbiology from the Central Department of Microbiology, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal in 2025. He was awarded the DAAD Research Grant to conduct part of his Ph.D. research work for two years (2019-2021) at Helmholtz-Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS), Saarbrucken, Germany. Sagar is interested in research on actinobacteria, myxobacteria, and natural products. He is the Research Head of the Department of Natural Products, Kathmandu Research Institute for Biological Sciences (KRIBS), Lalitpur, Nepal. Sagar has more than 15 years of experience in blogging, content writing, and SEO. Sagar was awarded the SfAM Communications Award 2015: Professional Communicator Category from the Society for Applied Microbiology (Now: Applied Microbiology International), Cambridge, United Kingdom (UK). Sagar is also the ASM Young Ambassador to Nepal for the American Society for Microbiology since 2023 onwards.

6 thoughts on “Biochemical Test of Bacillus cereus”

  1. Is it possible bacillus cereus can grow on mannitol salt agar?
    I have isolated gram positive bacilli with short chains and showing yellow and light pink colinies on MSA.

    Reply
    • Bacillus cereus can often tolerate and grow on mannitol salt agar (MSA), but it typically does not ferment mannitol, producing pink or red colonies rather than yellow. If you are seeing both yellow and pink colonies, you may have a mixed culture—one organism able to ferment mannitol (turning the medium yellow) and Bacillus species (likely producing pink colonies).

      Reply

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