Open AccessGenomic complexity and plasticity of Burkholderia cepacia
Author(s) -
Lessie Thomas G.,
Hendrickson William,
Manning Brendan D.,
Devereux Richard
Publication year - 1996
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 - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.1996.tb08517.x
Subject(s) - burkholderia , biology , genetics , genome , pseudomonas , gene , proteobacteria , microbiology and biotechnology , bacteria , insertion sequence , opportunistic pathogen , pseudomonas aeruginosa , transposable element , 16s ribosomal rna
Burkholderia cepacia has attracted attention because of its extraordinary degradative abilities and its potential as a pathogen for plants and for humans. This bacterium was formerly considered to belong to the genus Pseudomonas in the γ‐subclass of the Proteobacteria , but recently has been assigned to the β‐subclass based on rrn gene sequence analyses and other key phenotypic characteristics. The B. cepacia genome is comprised of multiple chromosomes and is rich in insertion sequences. These two features may have played a key role in the evolution of novel degradative functions and the unusual adaptability of this bacterium.