Multilocus sequence analysis reveals high genetic diversity in clinical isolates of Burkholderia cepacia complex from India

Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc) is a complex group of bacteria causing opportunistic infections in immunocompromised and cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. Herein, we report multilocus sequence typing and analysis of the 57 clinical isolates of Bcc collected over the period of seven years (2005-2012) from several hospitals across India. A total of 21 sequence types (ST) including two STs from cystic fibrosis patient's isolates and twelve novel STs were identified in the population reflecting the extent of genetic diversity. Multilocus sequence analysis revealed two lineages in population, a major lineage belonging to B. cenocepacia and a minor lineage belonging to B. cepacia. Split-decomposition analysis suggests absence of interspecies recombination and intraspecies recombination contributed in generating genotypic diversity amongst isolates. Further linkage disequilibrium analysis indicates that recombination takes place at a low frequency, which is not sufficient to break down the clonal relationship. This knowledge of the genetic structure of Bcc population from a rapidly developing country will be invaluable in the epidemiology, surveillance and understanding global diversity of this group of a pathogen.