Recovery of a Burkholderia thailandensis-like isolate from an Australian water source.

BACKGROUND: Burkholderia thailandensis, a close relative of Burkholderia pseudomallei, has previously been reported only from Southeast Asia and North America. It is biochemically differentiated from B. pseudomallei by the ability to utilize arabinose. During the course of environmental sampling for B. pseudomallei in the Northern Territory of Australia, an isolate, MSMB 43, was recovered that is arabinose positive. RESULTS: Genetic analysis using 16S rDNA sequencing and DNA/DNA hybridization indicates that MSMB 43 is most similar to B. thailandensis although multi-locus sequence typing indicates that this isolate is divergent from both B. pseudomallei and other described B. thailandensis. CONCLUSION: We report the isolation and initial characterization of strain MSMB 43, which is a B. thailandensis-like isolate recovered in Australia.

Tandem repeat regions within the Burkholderia pseudomallei genome and their application for high resolution genotyping.

BACKGROUND: The facultative, intracellular bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei is the causative agent of melioidosis, a serious infectious disease of humans and animals. We identified and categorized tandem repeat arrays and their distribution throughout the genome of B. pseudomallei strain K96243 in order to develop a genetic typing method for B. pseudomallei. We then screened 104 of the potentially polymorphic loci across a diverse panel of 31 isolates including B. pseudomallei, B. mallei and B. thailandensis in order to identify loci with varying degrees of polymorphism. A subset of these tandem repeat arrays were subsequently developed into a multiple-locus VNTR analysis to examine 66 B. pseudomallei and 21 B. mallei isolates from around the world, as well as 95 lineages from a serial transfer experiment encompassing ~18,000 generations. RESULTS: B. pseudomallei contains a preponderance of tandem repeat loci throughout its genome, many of which are duplicated elsewhere in the genome. The majority of these loci are composed of repeat motif lengths of 6 to 9 bp with 4 to 10 repeat units and are predominately located in intergenic regions of the genome. Across geographically diverse B. pseudomallei and B.mallei isolates, the 32 VNTR loci displayed between 7 and 28 alleles, with Nei's diversity values ranging from 0.47 and 0.94. Mutation rates for these loci are comparable (>10-5 per locus per generation) to that of the most diverse tandemly repeated regions found in other less diverse bacteria. CONCLUSION: The frequency, location and duplicate nature of tandemly repeated regions within the B. pseudomallei genome indicate that these tandem repeat regions may play a role in generating and maintaining adaptive genomic variation. Multiple-locus VNTR analysis revealed extensive diversity within the global isolate set containing B. pseudomallei and B. mallei, and it detected genotypic differences within clonal lineages of both species that were identical using previous typing methods. Given the health threat to humans and livestock and the potential for B. pseudomallei to be released intentionally, MLVA could prove to be an important tool for fine-scale epidemiological or forensic tracking of this increasingly important environmental pathogen.

VNTR analysis of selected outbreaks of Burkholderia pseudomallei in Australia.

Molecular typing methods for Burkholderia pseudomallei have been successful at assigning isolates into epidemiologically related groups, but have not been able to detect differences and define evolutionary patterns within groups. Our variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) analysis of a set of 121 Australian B. pseudomallei isolates, 104 of which were associated with nine epidemiological groups, provides fine scale differentiation even among very closely related isolates. We used a Bayesian model based upon mutation accumulation patterns to define the close phylogenetic relationships within these epidemiological groups. Our results reveal that genetic diversity can exist within a very small geographic area, and that low levels of diversity can exist even within a single infection. These methods provide the ability to generate robust evolutionary hypotheses that enable tracking of B. pseudomallei in forensic and epidemiological outbreaks at fine phylogenetic scales.

Burkholderia pseudomallei strain type, based on pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, does not determine disease presentation in melioidosis.

Melioidosis, the infection due to Burkholderia pseudomallei, may present with a spectrum of severity and may affect any site in the body. Differential strain virulence and tropism suggested by previous studies would have implications for virulence and vaccine work. We explored clinical correlations using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) typing in a well-characterised clinical collection. Two methods of analysis were used based on band-based similarity values: first, a conventional cluster analysis formed by the unweighted paired group mean analysis, and second, an analysis of the distribution of the "within-group" and "between-group" Dice coefficient. Clinical isolates from 114 cases of melioidosis occurring in the Northern Territory, Australia were studied; 71 strain types were defined with a Simpson's index of 0.91. No correlation was found between strain type and disease severity or site of melioidosis on presentation, with no differences in similarity values found when comparing within and between-groups. In particular, isolates from patients with neurological melioidosis were not clustered. There was evidence of geographical localisation. This study suggests that the variation in strain type may not be as important as host and environmental factors in determining the pattern of disease.

Chlorination and pH of drinking water do not correlate with rates of melioidosis in the Northern Territory, Australia.

Prompted by 2 outbreaks of melioidosis with fatalities linked to culture-positive drinking water, we theorized that there may be a correlation between low drinking water pH or lack of chlorination and the rate of melioidosis in rural communities in tropical Australia. However, following adjustment for rainfall, such associations were not apparent in a multivariate regression model.

Development and evaluation of a real-time PCR assay targeting the type III secretion system of Burkholderia pseudomallei.

Here we report on the development of a discriminatory real-time assay for the rapid identification of Burkholderia pseudomallei isolates and the evaluation of this assay for sensitivity against related species and detection in spiked human blood samples. The assay targets a 115-base-pair region within orf2 of the B. pseudomallei type III secretion system gene cluster and distinguishes B. pseudomallei from other microbial species. Assay performance was evaluated with 224 geographically, temporally, and clinically diverse B. pseudomallei isolates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention strain collection. This represents the first real-time PCR for rapid and sensitive identification of B. pseudomallei that has been tested for cross-reactivity with 23 Burkholderia mallei, 5 Burkholderia thailandensis, and 35 Burkholderia and 76 non-Burkholderia organisms which have historically presented diagnostic challenges. The assay performed with 100% specificity. The limit of detection was found to be 76 femtograms of DNA (equivalent to 5.2 x 10(3) genome equivalents per ml) in a single PCR. In spiked human blood, the assay could detect as few as 8.4 x 10(3) CFU per ml. This rapid assay is a valuable tool for identification of B. pseudomallei and may improve diagnosis in regions endemic for melioidosis.