Open AccessDiverse pathogenicity of Burkholderia cepacia complex strains in the Caenorhabditis elegans host model
Author(s) -
Cardona Silvia T.,
Wopperer Julia,
Eberl Leo,
Valvano Miguel A.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1016/j.femsle.2005.06.050
Subject(s) - biology , caenorhabditis elegans , burkholderia , pathogenicity , phenotype , microbiology and biotechnology , burkholderia cepacia complex , caenorhabditis , strain (injury) , genetics , host (biology) , bacteria , gene , anatomy
A fast screening method was developed to assess the pathogenicity of a diverse collection of environmental and clinical Burkholderia cepacia complex isolates in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans . The method was validated by comparison with the standard slow‐killing assay. We observed that the pathogenicity of B. cepacia complex isolates in C. elegans was strain‐dependent but species‐independent. The wide range of observed pathogenic phenotypes agrees with the high degree of phenotypic variation among species of the B. cepacia complex and suggests that the taxonomic classification of a given strain within the complex cannot predict pathogenicity.