Quorum sensing and DNA methylation play active roles in clinical <i>Burkholderia</i> phase variation.

ABSTRACT: Phenotypic diversity in bacteria often results from adaptation to changing environmental conditions, exemplified by variable colony morphotypes. In Burkholderia pseudomallei, discrete genomic alterations and modulation of gene expression facilitate adaptation. Adapted variants of species within the Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc) often lose the pC3 virulence megaplasmid, impacting their colony morphology and their production of virulence factors. In this study, we characterize variants arising in Burkholderia ambifaria clinical isolates using proteomics and phenotypic tests and show that some of them have retained the pC3, indicating a distinct phase variation mechanism at play in this Bcc species. Interestingly, variants of B. ambifaria strains CEP0996 (pC3-

SUBMITTER: Coulon PML 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11925244 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature