TY - JOUR AU - Morris, Jodie AU - Fane, Anne AU - Sarovich, Derek AU - Price, Erin AU - Rush, Catherine AU - Govan, Brenda AU - Parker, Elizabeth AU - Mayo, Mark AU - Currie, Bart AU - Ketheesan, Natkunam T1 - Increased Neurotropic Threat from Burkholderia pseudomallei Strains with a B. mallei–like Variation in the bimA Motility Gene, Australia T2 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal PY - 2017 VL - 23 IS - 5 SP - 740 SN - 1080-6059 AB - Neurologic melioidosis is a serious, potentially fatal form of Burkholderia pseudomallei infection. Recently, we reported that a subset of clinical isolates of B. pseudomallei from Australia have heightened virulence and potential for dissemination to the central nervous system. In this study, we demonstrate that this subset has a B. mallei–like sequence variation of the actin-based motility gene, bimA. Compared with B. pseudomallei isolates having typical bimA alleles, isolates that contain the B. mallei–like variation demonstrate increased persistence in phagocytic cells and increased virulence with rapid systemic dissemination and replication within multiple tissues, including the brain and spinal cord, in an experimental model. These findings highlight the implications of bimA variation on disease progression of B. pseudomallei infection and have considerable clinical and public health implications with respect to the degree of neurotropic threat posed to human health. KW - melioidosis KW - Burkholderia pseudomallei KW - virulence KW - neurologic KW - neurotropism KW - route of infection KW - actin-based motility KW - intracellular KW - bimA KW - bacteria KW - bacterial infection KW - Australia DO - 10.3201/eid2305.151417 UR - https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/23/5/15-1417_article ER - End of Reference