Phylogenomic Analysis Reveals an Asian Origin for African Burkholderia pseudomallei and Further Supports Melioidosis Endemicity in Africa.

ABSTRACT: Burkholderia pseudomallei, an environmental bacterium that causes the deadly disease melioidosis, is endemic in northern Australia and Southeast Asia. An increasing number of melioidosis cases are being reported in other tropical regions, including Africa and the Indian Ocean islands. B. pseudomallei first emerged in Australia, with subsequent rare dissemination event(s) to Southeast Asia; however, its dispersal to other regions is not yet well understood. We used large-scale comparative genomics to investigate the origins of three B. pseudomallei isolates from Madagascar and two from Burkina Faso. Phylogenomic reconstruction demonstrates that these African B. pseudomallei isolates group into a single novel clade that resides within the more ancestral Asian clade. Intriguingly, South Ameri

SUBMITTER: Sarovich DS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4863585 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Mar-Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature