In Vitro Motility of a Population of Clinical Burkholderia Pseudomallei Isolates
Khaemaporn Boonbumrung MSc*,**, Vanaporn Wuthiekanun BSc***, Sirirat Rengpipat PhD****, Nicholas PJ Day MD, PhD***,*****, Sharon J Peacock MD, PhD***,*****
Affiliation : * Faculty of Medical Technology, Mahidol University ** Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Chulalongkorn University *** Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University **** Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University ***** Center for Clinical Vaccinology and Tropical Medicine, Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Oxford, Churchill Hospital, Oxford, UK
Melioidosis, a serious infection caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei, is a leading cause of commu- nity-acquired sepsis in Northeast Thailand, and the commonest cause of death from community-acquired pneumonia in the Top End of Northern Australia. The causative organism is a Gram-negative, motile bacillus that is a facultative intracellular pathogen. B. pseudomallei flagella have been proposed as a possible vaccine candidate and putative virulence determinant. Flagella expression was highly conserved for 205 clinical B. pseudomallei isolates, as defined by in vitro swim and swarm motility assays. No association was found between motility and clinical factors including bacteremia and death.
Keywords : In vitro motility, Burkholderia pseudomallei
