28-years of B. pseudomallei evolution in sterile water
Burkholderia pseudomallei is an environmental bacterium and the causative agent of the neglected but often fatal infectious disease called 'Melioidosis'. This bacterium can survive across diverse ecological niches, including prolonged exposure to nutrient-depletion in the environment; however, the adaptive strategies that enable such long-term survival remain poorly understood. Here, we leveraged comparative genomics of the founder B. pseudomallei 207a strain and its descendants recovered after 28 years in sterile water to investigate the bacterium's evolutionary trajectory under extreme nutrient-limited conditions.