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Genomic Diversity of Burkholderia pseudomallei Clinical Isolates: Subtractive Hybridization Reveals a Burkholderia mallei-Specific Prophage in B. pseudomallei 1026b

Bacteriology Division, United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Fort Detrick, Maryland 21702

Received 9 January 2004/ Accepted 8 March 2004

Burkholderia pseudomallei is the etiologic agent of the disease melioidosis and is a category B biological threat agent. The genomic sequence of B. pseudomallei K96243 was recently determined, but little is known about the overall genetic diversity of this species. Suppression subtractive hybridization was employed to assess the genetic variability between two distinct clinical isolates of B. pseudomallei, 1026b and K96243. Numerous mobile genetic elements, including a temperate bacteriophage designated 1026b, were identified among the 1026b-specific suppression subtractive hybridization products. Bacteriophage 1026b was spontaneously produced by 1026b, and it had a restricted host range, infecting only Burkholderia mallei. It possessed a noncontractile tail, an isometric head, and a linear 54,865-bp genome. The mosaic nature of the 1026b genome was revealed by comparison with bacteriophage E125, a B. mallei-specific bacteriophage produced by Burkholderia thailandensis. The 1026b genes for DNA packaging, tail morphogenesis, host lysis, integration, and DNA replication were nearly identical to the corresponding genes in E125. On the other hand, 1026b genes involved in head morphogenesis were similar to head morphogenesis genes encoded by Pseudomonas putida and Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteriophages. Consistent with this observation, immunogold electron microscopy demonstrated that polyclonal antiserum against E125 reacted with the tail of 1026b but not with the head. The results presented here suggest that B. pseudomallei strains are genetically heterogeneous and that bacteriophages are major contributors to the genomic diversity of this species. The bacteriophage characterized in this study may be a useful diagnostic tool for differentiating B. pseudomallei and B. mallei, two closely related biological threat agents.

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