Journal article

Tracing the environmental footprint of the Burkholderia pseudomallei lipopolysaccharide genotypes in the tropical “Top End” of the Northern Territory, Australia

JR Webb, A Rachlin, V Rigas, DS Sarovich, EP Price, M Kaestli, LM Ward, M Mayo, BJ Currie

Plos Neglected Tropical Diseases | PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE | Published : 2019

Abstract

The Tier 1 select agent Burkholderia pseudomallei is an environmental bacterium that causes melioidosis, a high mortality disease. Variably present genetic markers used to elucidate strain origin, relatedness and virulence in B. pseudomallei include the Burkholderia intracellular motility factor A (bimA) and filamentous hemagglutinin 3 (fhaB3) gene variants. Three lipopolysaccharide (LPS) O-antigen types in B. pseudomallei have been described, which vary in proportion between Australian and Asian isolates. However, it remains unknown if these LPS types can be used as genetic markers for geospatial analysis within a contiguous melioidosis-endemic region. Using a combination of whole-genome se..

View full abstract

University of Melbourne Researchers

Grants

Awarded by National Health and Medical Research Council


Funding Acknowledgements

The research was funded under the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council grant numbers 1046812, 1098337, and 1131932 (The HOT NORTH initiative). DSS and EPP are supported by Advance Queensland Fellowships (AQRF13016-17RD2 and AQIRF0362018, respectively). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.