Background: The ability of Burkholderia pseudomallei to survive in water likely contributes to its environmental persistence in endemic regions. To determine the physiological adaptations which allow B. pseudomallei to survive in aqueous environments, we performed microarray analyses of B. pseudomallei cultures transferred from Luria broth (LB) to distilled water.
Findings: Increased expression of a gene encoding for a putative membrane protein (BPSL0721) was confirmed using a lux-based transcriptional reporter system, and maximal expression was noted at approximately 6 hrs after shifting cells from LB to water. A BPSL0721 deficient mutant of B. pseudomallei was able to survive in water for at least 90 days indicating that although involved, BPSL0721 was not essential for survival. BPSL2961, a gene encoding a putative phosphatidylglycerol phosphatase (PGP), was also induced when cells were shifted to water. This gene is likely involved in cell membrane biosynthesis. We were unable to construct a PGP mutant suggesting that the gene is not only involved in survival in water but is essential for cell viability. We also examined mutants of polyhydroxybutyrate synthase (phbC), lipopolysaccharide (LPS) oligosaccharide and capsule synthesis, and these mutations did not affect survival in water. LPS mutants lacking outer core were found to lose viability in water by 200 days indicating that an intact LPS core provides an outer membrane architecture which allows prolonged survival in water.
Conclusion: The results from these studies suggest that B. pseudomallei survival in water is a complex process that requires an LPS molecule which contains an intact core region.