Global and regional dissemination and evolution of Burkholderia pseudomallei
File(s)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The environmental bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei causes an estimated 165,000 cases of human melioidosis per year worldwide and is also classified as a biothreat agent. We used whole genome sequences of 469 B. pseudomallei isolates from 30 countries collected over 79 years to explore its geographic transmission. Our data point to Australia as an early reservoir, with transmission to Southeast Asia followed by onward transmission to South Asia and East Asia. Repeated reintroductions were observed within the Malay Peninsula and between countries bordered by the Mekong River. Our data support an African origin of the Central and South American isolates with introduction of B. pseudomallei into the Americas between 1650 and 1850, providing a temporal link with the slave trade. We also identified geographically distinct genes/variants in Australasian or Southeast Asian isolates alone, with virulence-associated genes being among those over-represented. This provides a potential explanation for clinical manifestations of melioidosis that are geographically restricted.
Date Issued
2017-01-23
Date Acceptance
2016-12-08
Citation
NATURE MICROBIOLOGY, 2017, 2
ISSN
2058-5276
Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
Journal / Book Title
NATURE MICROBIOLOGY
Volume
2
Copyright Statement
© 2017 Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature. All rights reserved. The final publication is available at https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nmicrobiol.2016.263
Sponsor
Wellcome Trust
Identifier
http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000398177800006&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
Grant Number
089472/Z/09/Z
Subjects
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Microbiology
PHYLOGENETIC ANALYSIS
BAPS SOFTWARE
GENE-TRANSFER
TOOL
SEQUENCES
RECOMBINATION
EPIDEMIOLOGY
MELIOIDOSIS
ALIGNMENTS
ANNOTATION
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
ARTN 16263