Publications

an outbreak of bacillus cereus food poisoning resulting from contaminated vegetable sprouts.	in an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness caused by consumption of home-grown raw vegetable sprouts contaminated by bacillus cereus, victims developed symptoms after an incubation period of 6-15 hours. four persons initially experienced nausea and vomiting, and this was followed in 3 cases by abdominal cramps and diarrhea. bacteriologic investigation indicated that b. cereus on unsprouted seeds proliferated during germination in a commercially sold seed sprouting kit and reached levels in exces ...	1976	820192
nontypical bacillus cereus outbreak in a child care center.	on october 29, 1998, the garland health department in texas investigated seven illnesses at a church day school. the six children and one adult had handled hydrated, orange-colored rice before consuming a meal. b. cereus organisms were found in the rice at an estimated concentration of 5.6 x 10(5) per gram. as far as the authors can determine, this outbreak is the first one documented to have occurred from indirect ingestion of b. cereus by way of contaminated hands, as opposed to ingestion of t ...	2001	11381470
characterization of bacillus cereus isolates associated with fatal pneumonias: strains are closely related to bacillus anthracis and harbor b. anthracis virulence genes.	bacillus cereus is ubiquitous in nature, and while most isolates appear to be harmless, some are associated with food-borne illnesses, periodontal diseases, and other more serious infections. in one such infection, b. cereus g9241 was identified as the causative agent of a severe pneumonia in a louisiana welder in 1994. this isolate was found to harbor most of the b. anthracis virulence plasmid pxo1 (13). here we report the characterization of two clinical and one environmental b. cereus isolate ...	2006	16954272
molecular identification of hemolymph-associated symbiotic bacteria in red imported fire ant larvae.	the red imported fire ant (rifa) (solenopsis invicta buren), an exotic insect pest in texas, has become well established throughout the eastern part of the state. more aggressive than native ant species, rifa gradually have enlarged their range and spread north and west despite intense efforts to stop them. symbiotic bacteria have an important relationship in the midgut of fourth instar rifa larvae. however, the presence of symbiotic bacteria in hemolymph has not been explored. in this study, sy ...	2008	18795363
some like it hot: the effects of climate change on reproduction, immune function and disease resistance in the cricket gryllus texensis.	in many parts of the world, climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of heat waves. how do heat waves impact short-lived poikilotherms such as insects? in the cricket, gryllus texensis, 6 days of elevated temperatures (i.e. 7°c above the average field temperature and 5°c above their preferred temperature) resulted in increased egg laying, faster egg development and greater mass gain. the increased temperature also increased activity of phenoloxidase and lysozyme-like enzymes, two ...	2011	21613515