We demonstrate that all nine species of the Burkholderia cepacia complex can express the mucoid phenotype. A survey of clinical isolates showed that strains of B. cenocepacia, the most virulent species of the complex, are most frequently nonmucoid. Additionally, isolates from patients with chronic infections can convert from mucoid to nonmucoid.

Burkholderia cenocepacia K56-2 belongs to the Burkholderia cepacia complex, a group of Gram-negative opportunistic pathogens that have large and dynamic genomes. In this work, we identified the essential genome of B. cenocepacia K56-2 using high-density transposon mutagenesis and insertion site sequencing (Tn-seq circle). We constructed a library of one million transposon mutants and identified...

Cases of melioidosis and glanders are rare in the United States, but the etiologic agents of each disease (Burkholderia pseudomallei and Burkholderia mallei, respectively) are classified as Tier 1 select agents because of concerns about their potential use as bioterrorism agents. A rapid, highly sensitive, and portable assay for clinical laboratories and field use is required. Our laboratory ha...

Previous studies have demonstrated that extracellular glutathione reduces the ability of the Cystic Fibrosis pathogen Burkholderia cenocepacia to infect primary or immortalized epithelial respiratory cells. We report here that the adhesion and invasion ability of B. cenocepacia is limited also by thiol-oxidizing and disulphide-reducing agents and by protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) inhibitors....

A nosocomial polyclonal outbreak associated to bacteremia caused by different Burkholderia cepacia complex (BCC) species and clones is reported. Molecular characterization identified Burkholderia stabilis, Burkholderia contaminans, and Burkholderia ambifaria among BCC isolates obtained from patients in neonatal and adult intensive care units. BCC was also isolated from an intrinsically contamin...

Pathogenic Burkholderia rely on host factors for efficient intracellular replication and are highly refractory to antibiotic treatment. To identify host genes that are required by Burkholderia spp. during infection, we performed a RNA interference (RNAi) screen of the human kinome and identified 35 host kinases that facilitated Burkholderia thailandensis intracellular survival in human monocyti...

RATIONALE Lung transplantation offers the only survival option for patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) with end-stage pulmonary disease. Infection with Burkholderia species is typically considered a contraindication to transplantation in CF. However, the risks posed by different Burkholderia species on transplantation outcomes are poorly defined. OBJECTIVES To quantify the risks of infection w...

Investigation of the in vitro activity of tigecycline against Burkholderia pseudomallei and Burkholderia thailandensis revealed that the inhibition zone diameters of tigecycline against all isolates were >or=20 mm and that the MIC50 values were 0.5 and 1 microg/ml and the MIC90 values were 2 and 1.5 microg/ml for B. pseudomallei and B. thailandensis, respectively.

Burkholderia pseudomallei strain Bp1651, a human isolate, is resistant to all clinically relevant antibiotics. We report here on the finished genome sequence assembly and annotation of the two chromosomes of this strain. This genome sequence may assist in understanding the mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance for this pathogenic species.

Burkholderia mallei-specific phage PhiE125 encodes DNA methyltransferases in both the lysogenic and replication modules within its genome. Characterization of DNA methylation in recombinant systems, specifically in PhiE125 lysogenic strains of B. mallei and Burkholderia thailandensis, revealed that, upon induction, cytosine methylation was targeted specifically to the phage episome but not the ...