title: Detection of the reemerging agent Burkholderia mallei in a recent outbreak of glanders in the United Arab Emirates by a newly developed fliP-based polymerase chain reaction assay.
abstract: A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay targeting the flagellin P (fliP)-I S407A genomic region of Burkholderia mallei was developed for the specific detection of this organism in pure cultures and clinical samples from a recent outbreak of equine glanders. Primers deduced from the known fliP-IS407A sequence of B. mallei American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) 23344(T) allowed the specific amplification of a 989-bp fragment from each of the 20 B. mallei strains investigated, whereas other closely related organisms tested negative. The detection limit of the assay was 10 fg for purified DNA of B. mallei ATCC 23344(T). B. mallei DNA was also amplified from various tissues of horses with a generalized B. mallei infection. The developed PCR assay can be used as a simple and rapid tool for the specific and sensitive detection of B. mallei in clinical samples.
authors.affiliation: Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology, D-80937 Munich, Germany. holger1scholz@bundeswehr.org
authors.forename: Holger C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Scholz
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Joseph
authors.forename: Herbert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tomaso
authors.forename: Sascha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Al Dahouk
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Witte
authors.forename: Joerg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kinne
authors.forename: Ralph M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Hagen
authors.forename: Renate
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wernery
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Wernery
authors.forename: Heinrich
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Neubauer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D042726:Burkholderia mallei / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000662:veterinary*; D005408:Flagellin / Q000235:genetics*; D005896:Glanders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D006736:Horses; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D014479:United Arab Emirates / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D005408:Flagellin