Burkholderia is a genus of Pseudomonadota whose pathogenic members include the Burkholderia cepacia complex, which attacks humans and Burkholderia mallei, responsible for glanders, a disease that occurs mostly in horses and related animals; Burkholderia pseudomallei, causative agent of melioidosis; and Burkholderia cepacia, an important pathogen of pulmonary infections in people with cystic fibrosis (CF). Burkholderia species is also found in marine environments. S.I. Paul et al. (2021) isolated and characterized Burkholderia cepacia from marine sponges of the Saint Martin's Island of the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh.
The Burkholderiaceae are a family of bacteria included in the order Burkholderiales. It includes some pathogenic species, such as Burkholderia mallei (glanders) and Burkholderia pseudomallei (melioidosis). This family was found to be enriched in scale-eating pupfish guts, even after being fed a common laboratory diet, suggesting it may aid in scale-digestion.
Mycobacterium smegmatis is an acid-fast bacterial species in the phylum Actinomycetota and the genus Mycobacterium. It is 3.0 to 5.0 μm long with a bacillus shape and can be stained by Ziehl–Neelsen method and the auramine-rhodamine fluorescent method. It was first reported in November 1884, who found a bacillus with the staining appearance of tubercle bacilli in syphilitic chancres. Subsequent to this, Alvarez and Tavel found organisms similar to that described by Lustgarten also in normal genital secretions (smegma). This organism was later named M. smegmatis.
Burkholderia mallei is a Gram-negative, bipolar, aerobic bacterium, a human and animal pathogen of genus Burkholderia causing glanders; the Latin name of this disease (malleus) gave its name to the species causing it. It is closely related to B. pseudomallei, and by multilocus sequence typing it is a subspecies of B. pseudomallei.B. mallei evolved from B. pseudomallei by selective reduction and deletions from the B. pseudomallei genome. Unlike B. pseudomallei and other genus members, B. mallei is nonmotile; its shape is coccobacillary measuring some 1.5–3.0 μm in length and 0.5–1.0 μm in diameter with rounded ends.
Burkholderia cenocepacia is a Gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium that is commonly found in soil and water environments and may also be associated with plants and animals, particularly as a human pathogen. It is one of over 20 species in the Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc) and is notable due to its virulence factors and inherent antibiotic resistance that render it a prominent opportunistic pathogen responsible for life-threatening, nosocomial infections in immunocompromised patients, such as those with cystic fibrosis or chronic granulomatous disease. The quorum sensing systems CepIR and CciIR regulate the formation of biofilms and the expression of virulence factors such as siderophores and proteases. Burkholderia cenocepacia may also cause disease in plants, such as in onions and bananas. Additionally, some strains serve as plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria.
Paraburkholderia caledonica is a species of Pseudomonadota.
Paraburkholderia kururiensis is a species of bacteria.
Paraburkholderia phymatum is a species of bacteria that is capable of symbiotic nitrogen fixation with the legumes Machaerium lunatum and Mimosa pudica. Recently, the genome was sequenced. It consists of two chromosomes, a megaplasmid, and a plasmid hosting the symbiotic functions.
Paraburkholderia tuberum is a species of bacteria that is capable of symbiotic nitrogen fixation with the legume Aspalathus carnosa.
Paraburkholderia xenovorans is a species of bacteria.
Rhodococcus equi is a Gram-positive coccobacillus bacterium. The organism is commonly found in dry and dusty soil and can be important for diseases of domesticated animals. The frequency of infection can reach near 60%. R. equi is an important pathogen causing pneumonia in foals. Since 2008, R. equi has been known to infect wild boar and domestic pigs. R. equi can infect immunocompromised people, such as HIV-AIDS patients or organ transplant recipients. Rhodococcus equi infection in these populations resemble the clinical and pathological signs of advanced pulmonary tuberculosis. This organism is a facultative intracellular mycobacterial pathogen.
Pathogenomics is a field which uses high-throughput screening technology and bioinformatics to study encoded microbe resistance, as well as virulence factors (VFs), which enable a microorganism to infect a host and possibly cause disease. This includes studying genomes of pathogens which cannot be cultured outside of a host. In the past, researchers and medical professionals found it difficult to study and understand pathogenic traits of infectious organisms. With newer technology, pathogen genomes can be identified and sequenced in a much shorter time and at a lower cost, thus improving the ability to diagnose, treat, and even predict and prevent pathogenic infections and disease. It has also allowed researchers to better understand genome evolution events - gene loss, gain, duplication, rearrangement - and how those events impact pathogen resistance and ability to cause disease. This influx of information has created a need for bioinformatics tools and databases to analyze and make the vast amounts of data accessible to researchers, and it has raised ethical questions about the wisdom of reconstructing previously extinct and deadly pathogens in order to better understand virulence.
Paraburkholderia bannensis is a Gram-negative, aerobic, non-spore-forming bacterium of the genus Paraburkholderia and the family Burkholderiaceae, which was isolated from highly acidic swamps from torpedo grass in Thailand. It has the ability to neutralize acid.
Paraburkholderia bryophila is a Gram-negative, catalase- and oxidase-positive, non-spore-forming, and nonmotile bacterium of the genus Paraburkholderia and the family Burkholderiaceae. Research has shown that P. bryophila demonstrates anti-fungal activity against phytopathogens and the growth of plant-associated properties.
Paraburkholderia endofungorum is a gram-negative, catalase and oxidase-positive, motile bacterium which is able to grow under aerobic and microaerophilic conditions without a CO2 atmosphere, from the genus Paraburkholderia and the family Burkholderiaceae.
Paraburkholderia ginsengisoli is a gram-negative, rod-shaped, motile bacterium with unipolar polytrichous flagella from the genus Paraburkholderia and the family Burkholderiaceae which was isolated from soil of a ginseng field in South Korea. Paraburkholderia ginsengisoli has the ability to produce β-glucosidase.
Paraburkholderia nodosa is a gram-negative, catalase and oxidase-positive, non-spore-forming, bacterium from the genus Paraburkholderia and the family Burkholderiaceae which was isolated from nitrogen-fixing nodules from roots of Mimosa bimucronata and Mimosa scabrella.
Paraburkholderia rhizoxinica is a gram-negative, oxidase and catalase-positive, motile bacterium from the genus Paraburkholderia and the family Burkholderiaceae which was isolated from the plant pathogenic fungus, Rhizopus microsporus. The complete genome of Paraburkholderia rhizoxinica is sequenced.
Paraburkholderia denitrificans is a gram-negative, bacterium from the genus Paraburkholderia and the family Burkholderiaceae which was isolated from wet forest soil on the island of Liancourt Rocks. Paraburkholderia denitrificans has the ability to reduced nitrate to nitrogen gas.
Paraburkholderia is a genus of Pseudomonadota that are gram negative, slightly curved rods that are motile by means of flagella. They have been reported to colonize endophytic tissues of hybrid spruce and lodgepole pine with a strong potential to perform biological nitrogen fixation and plant growth promotion. Unlike Burkholderia species, Paraburkholderia members are not commonly associated with human infection. Paraburkholderia members form a monophyletic clade within the Burkholderiaceae family, which is what prompted their distinction as a genus independent from Burkholderia species, in combination with the finding of robust conserved signature indels which are unique to Paraburkholderia species, and are lacking in members of the genus Burkholderia. These CSIs distinguish the genus from all other bacteria. Additionally, the CSIs that were found to be shared by Burkholderia species are absent in Paraburkholderia, providing evidence of separate lineages.
