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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
Plant-associated symbiotic Burkholderia species lack hallmark strategies required in mammalian pathogenesis
PLoS ONE, Volume 9, No. 1, Article e83779, Year 2014
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Description
Burkholderia is a diverse and dynamic genus, containing pathogenic species as well as species that form complex interactions with plants. Pathogenic strains, such as B. pseudomallei and B. mallei, can cause serious disease in mammals, while other Burkholderia strains are opportunistic pathogens, infecting humans or animals with a compromised immune system. Although some of the opportunistic Burkholderia pathogens are known to promote plant growth and even fix nitrogen, the risk of infection to infants, the elderly, and people who are immunocompromised has not only resulted in a restriction on their use, but has also limited the application of non-pathogenic, symbiotic species, several of which nodulate legume roots or have positive effects on plant growth. However, recent phylogenetic analyses have demonstrated that Burkholderia species separate into distinct lineages, suggesting the possibility for safe use of certain symbiotic species in agricultural contexts. A number of environmental strains that promote plant growth or degrade xenobiotics are also included in the symbiotic lineage. Many of these species have the potential to enhance agriculture in areas where fertilizers are not readily available and may serve in the future as inocula for crops growing in soils impacted by climate change. Here we address the pathogenic potential of several of the symbiotic Burkholderia strains using bioinformatics and functional tests. A series of infection experiments using Caenorhabditis elegans and HeLa cells, as well as genomic characterization of pathogenic loci, show that the risk of opportunistic infection by symbiotic strains such as B. tuberum is extremely low. © 2014 Angus et al.
Available Materials
https://efashare.b-cdn.net/share/pmc/articles/PMC3885511/bin/pone.0083779.s001.tiff
https://efashare.b-cdn.net/share/pmc/articles/PMC3885511/bin/pone.0083779.s002.tiff
Authors & Co-Authors
Angus, Annette A.
United States, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
Agapakis, Christina M.
United States, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
Fong, Stephanie
United States, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
Yerrapragada, Shailaja
United States, Houston
Baylor College of Medicine
Estrada de los Santos, Paulina
Mexico, Mexico
Instituto Politécnico Nacional
Yang, Paul
United States, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
Song, Nannie
United States, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
Kano, Stephanie
United States, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
Caballero-Mellado, Jésus
Mexico, Cuernavaca
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Campus Morelos
de Faria, S. M.
Brazil, Seropedica
Embrapa Agrobiologia
Dakora, Felix Dapare
South Africa, Pretoria
Tshwane University of Technology
Weinstock, George M.
United States, St. Louis
Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis
Hirsch, Ann M.
United States, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
Statistics
Citations: 186
Authors: 13
Affiliations: 7
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1371/journal.pone.0083779
e-ISSN:
19326203
Research Areas
Environmental