Toxicological profile of cereulide, the Bacillus cereus emetic toxin, in functional assays with human, animal and bacterial cells.

Some strains of the endospore-forming bacterium Bacillus cereus produce a heat-stable ionophoric peptide, cereulide, of high human toxicity. We assessed cell toxicity of cereulide by measuring the toxicities of crude extracts of cereulide producing and non-producing strains of B. cereus, and of pure cereulide, using cells of human, animal and bacterial origins.