Genomic diversity of Burkholderia pseudomallei clinical isolates: subtractive hybridization reveals a Burkholderia mallei-specific prophage in B. pseudomallei 1026b.

ABSTRACT: 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 phi1026b, were identified among the 1026b-specific suppression subtractive hybridization products. Bacteriophage phi1026b 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

SUBMITTER: DeShazer D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC419931 | biostudies-literature | 2004 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature