Phenotypic Characterization of a Novel Virulence-Factor Deletion Strain of Burkholderia mallei That Provides Partial Protection against Inhalational Glanders in Mice.

ABSTRACT: Burkholderia mallei (Bm) is a highly infectious intracellular pathogen classified as a category B biological agent by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. After respiratory exposure, Bm establishes itself within host macrophages before spreading into major organ systems, which can lead to chronic infection, sepsis, and death. Previously, we combined computational prediction of host-pathogen interactions with yeast two-hybrid experiments and identified novel virulence factor genes in Bm, including BMAA0553, BMAA0728 (tssN), and BMAA1865. In the present study, we used recombinant allelic exchange to construct deletion mutants of BMAA0553 and tssN (ΔBMAA0553 and ΔTssN, respectively) and showed that both deletions completely abrogated virulence at doses of >100 times the LD50 of the

SUBMITTER: Bozue JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4767903 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature