Use of the gyrB gene to discriminate among species of the Burkholderia cepacia complex

FEMS Microbiol Lett. 2008 Apr;281(2):175-82. doi: 10.1111/j.1574-6968.2008.01105.x. Epub 2008 Feb 27.

Abstract

Bacteria of the Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc) are opportunistic pathogens that can cause serious infections in lungs of cystic fibrosis patients. The Bcc comprises at least nine species that have been discriminated by a polyphasic taxonomic approach. In this study, we focused on the gyrB gene, universally distributed among bacteria, as a new target gene to discriminate among the Bcc species. New PCR primers were designed to amplify a gyrB DNA fragment of about 1900 bp from 76 strains representative of all Bcc species. Nucleotide sequences of PCR products were determined and showed more than 400 polymorphic sites with high sequence similarity values from most isolates of the same species. Phylogenetic tree analysis revealed that most of the 76 gyrB sequences grouped, forming clusters, each corresponding to a given Bcc species.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Bacterial Proteins / genetics*
  • Burkholderia Infections / microbiology
  • Burkholderia cepacia complex / classification*
  • Burkholderia cepacia complex / genetics*
  • Burkholderia cepacia complex / isolation & purification
  • DNA Gyrase / genetics*
  • DNA Primers
  • DNA, Bacterial / analysis
  • DNA, Bacterial / genetics
  • Humans
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Phylogeny
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Polymorphism, Genetic
  • Sequence Analysis, DNA

Substances

  • Bacterial Proteins
  • DNA Primers
  • DNA, Bacterial
  • DNA Gyrase