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