BACKGROUND Burkholderia pseudomallei is a soil saprophytic bacterium that causes melioidosis. The infection occurs through cutaneous inoculation, inhalation or ingestion. Bacteriophages (phages) in the same ecosystem may significantly impact the biology of this bacterium in the environment, and in their culturability in the laboratory. METHODS/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS The soil samples were analysed...

Dot blot hybridization and PCR amplification of 14 Ara(+) and 8 Ara(-) Burkholderia pseudomallei strains showed that type III secretion (TTS) genes were present in all the Ara(-) strains but absent from all but one of the Ara(+) strains. The link between TTS genes and an Ara(-) phenotype suggests a role for TTS in virulence.

Burkholderia mallei and B. pseudomallei are important human pathogens and cause the diseases glanders and melioidosis, respectively. Both organisms are highly infectious when inhaled and are inherently resistant to many antimicrobials, thus making it difficult to treat pneumonic Burkholderia infections. We investigated whether it was possible to achieve rapid protection against inhaled Burkhold...

Melioidosis is a disease caused by infection with Burkholderia pseudomallei. The molecular basis for the pathogenicity of B. pseudomallei is poorly understood. However, recent work has identified the first toxin from this bacterium and shown that it inhibits host protein synthesis. Here, we review the illness that is potentially associated with biological warfare, the pathogen and its deadly mo...

Burkholderia pseudomallei has rarely been isolated from environmental and clinical specimens in South America, particularly, in Brazil. This report describes a case of melioidosis with fulminant sepsis in a 10 year old boy, from rural area, in Tejuçuoca, State of Ceará, Brazil. Blood samples were positive and, through the analysis of results from biochemical tests and of drugs susceptibility pr...

Melioidosis is a severe bacterial infection caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei. Rapid antimicrobial therapy is necessary to improve patient outcome, which is aided by direct detection of B. pseudomallei in clinical samples. A drawback for all antigen assays is that the number of B. pseudomallei in blood usually falls below the achievable level of detection. We performed a prospective cohort st...

Bacteriocins of the LlpA family have previously been characterized in the γ-proteobacteria Pseudomonas and Xanthomonas. These proteins are composed of two MMBL (monocot mannose-binding lectin) domains, a module predominantly and abundantly found in lectins from monocot plants. Genes encoding four different types of LlpA-like proteins were identified in genomes from strains belonging to the Burk...

The major predisposing factor for melioidosis is diabetes mellitus, but no immunological mechanisms have been investigated to explain this. In this study, polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN) responses to Burkholderia pseudomallei, the causative agent of melioidosis, in healthy and diabetic Thai subjects were determined by flow cytometry. The results showed that B. pseudomallei displayed reduced ...