title: Detection of Burkholderia pseudomallei O-antigen serotypes in near-neighbor species.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Burkholderia pseudomallei is the etiological agent of melioidosis and a CDC category B select agent with no available effective vaccine. Previous immunizations in mice have utilized the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) as a potential vaccine target because it is known as one of the most important antigenic epitopes in B. pseudomallei. Complicating this strategy are the four different B. pseudomallei LPS O-antigen types: A, B, B2, and rough. Sero-crossreactivity is common among O-antigens of Burkholderia species. Here, we identified the presence of multiple B. pseudomallei O-antigen types and sero-crossreactivity in its near-neighbor species.
  
  
  RESULTS
  PCR screening of O-antigen biosynthesis genes, phenotypic characterization using SDS-PAGE, and immunoblot analysis showed that majority of B. mallei and B. thailandensis strains contained the typical O-antigen type A. In contrast, most of B. ubonensis and B. thailandensis-like strains expressed the atypical O-antigen types B and B2, respectively. Most B. oklahomensis strains expressed a distinct and non-seroreactive O-antigen type, except strain E0147 which expressed O-antigen type A. O-antigen type B2 was also detected in B. thailandensis 82172, B. ubonensis MSMB108, and Burkholderia sp. MSMB175. Interestingly, B. thailandensis-like MSMB43 contained a novel serotype B positive O-antigen.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study expands the number of species which express B. pseudomallei O-antigen types. Further work is required to elucidate the full structures and how closely these are to the B. pseudomallei O-antigens, which will ultimately determine the efficacy of the near-neighbor B serotypes for vaccine development.
authors.affiliation: Center for Microbial Genetics and Genomics, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA.
authors.forename: Joshua K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Stone
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mayo
authors.forename: Stephanie A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Grasso
authors.forename: Jennifer L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Ginther
authors.forename: Stephanie D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Warrington
authors.forename: Christopher J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Allender
authors.forename: Adina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Doyle
authors.forename: Shalamar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Georgia
authors.forename: Mirjam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kaestli
authors.forename: Stacey M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Broomall
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Karavis
authors.forename: Joseph M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Insalaco
authors.forename: Kyle S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Hubbard
authors.forename: Lauren A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: McNew
authors.forename: Henry S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Gibbons
authors.forename: Bart J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Currie
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Keim
authors.forename: Apichai
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tuanyok
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D053898:Biosynthetic Pathways / Q000235:genetics; D019117:Burkholderia / Q000145:classification* / Q000276:immunology*; D003429:Cross Reactions; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D019081:O Antigens / Q000032:analysis*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012703:Serotyping
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D019081:O Antigens