Burkholderia gladioli has been reported as the pathogen responsible for cases of foodborne illness in many countries. The poisonous bongkrekic acid (BA) produced by B. gladioli was linked to a gene cluster absent in non-pathogenic strains. The whole genome sequence of eight bacteria strains, which were screened from the collected 175 raw food and environmental samples, were assembled and analyzed to detect a significant association of 19 protein-coding genes with the pathogenic status. Except for the common BA synthesis-related gene, several other genes, including the toxin-antitoxin genes, were also absent in the non-pathogenic strains. The bacteria strains with the BA gene cluster were found to form a single cluster in the analysis of all B. gladioli genome assemblies for the variants in the gene cluster. Divergence of this cluster was detected in the analysis for both the flanking sequences and those of the whole genome level, which indicates its complex origin. Genome recombination was found to cause a precise sequence deletion in the gene cluster region, which was found to be predominant in the non-pathogenic strains indicating the possible effect of horizontal gene transfer. Our study provided new information and resources for understanding the evolution and divergence of the B. gladioli species.
Keywords: Burkholderia gladioli; Foodborne pathogen; Homologous recombination; Horizontal gene transfer.
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