title: Enzymatic profiling of clinical and environmental isolates of Burkholderia pseudomallei.
abstract: Melioidosis has been recognized as an important cause of sepsis in the tropics. The   disease caused by an environmental saprophyte Burkholderia pseudomallei, affects mostly   adults with underlying immunocompromised conditions. In this study, the enzymatic profiles   of 91 clinical and 9 environmental isolates of B. pseudomallei were evaluated using the   APIZYM system, in addition to assessment of protease, phospholipase C and sialidase activities   using agar plate methods and other assays. The activity of 10 enzymes - alkaline phosphatase,   esterase, esterase lipase, lipase, leucine arylamidase, valine arylamidase, cystine arylamidase,   acid phosphatase, naphthol-AS-BI-phosphohydrolase and N-acetyl-β-glucosaminidase were   detected in >75% of the clinical isolates. The majority of B. pseudomallei isolates in this study   exhibited protease and phospholipase activities. No sialidase activity was detected. Five   Burkholderia thailandensis isolates had similar APIZYM profiles as B. pseudomallei clinical   isolates except for the lower detection rate for N-acetyl-β-glucosaminidase. The subtle   differences in the number of enzymes secreted and the levels of enzymatic activities of   phenotypically identical clinical and environmental strains of B. pseudomallei give weight to   the fact that the causative agent of melioidodis originates from the environment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Liew
authors.forename: S T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Tay
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wongratanacheewin
authors.forename: S D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Puthucheary
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016957:Burkholderia pseudomallei / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004783:Environmental Microbiology; D004798:Enzymes / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D008554:Melioidosis / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D004798:Enzymes