Burkholderia pseudomallei is a potential bioterror agent and the causative agent of melioidosis, a severe disease that is endemic in areas of ...SkiptomaincontentThankyouforvisitingnature.com.YouareusingabrowserversionwithlimitedsupportforCSS.Toobtainthebestexperience,werecommendyouuseamoreuptodatebrowser(orturnoffcompatibilitymodeinInternetExplorer).Inthemeantime,toensurecontinuedsupport,wearedisplayingthesitewithoutstylesandJavaScript.AdvertisementnaturenaturereviewsmicrobiologyreviewarticlesarticleMelioidosis:insightsintothepathogenicityofBurkholderiapseudomalleiDownloadPDFKeyPointsMelioidosisiscausedbytheaerobic,Gram-negativesoil-dwellingbacillusBurkholderiapseudomalleiandisanimportantcauseofseveresepsisinSoutheastAsiaandNorthernAustralia.Thehighassociatedmortalityrate,wideavailabilityintheenvironmentinendemicareas,intrinsicresistancetomanyantibioticsandthepotentialforaerosolspreadhasmadethisorganismapotentialbioterroragent.ThegenomeofB.pseudomalleiconsistsofalargechromosome(4.07Mb)carryinggenesmainlyassociatedwithcellgrowthandmetabolism,andasmallerchromosome(3.17Mb)whichhasagreaterproportionofgenesencodingaccessoryfunctionssuchasadaptationandsurvivalindifferentenvironments.Approximately6%ofthegenomeismadeupofgenomicislandsthathaveprobablybeenacquiredbyhorizontalgenetransfer.Factorsassociatedwithdiseaseacquisitioninendemicregionsincludeadverseweatherconditions,therouteandsizeoftheinoculumandtheintegrityofthehostimmunesystem.ThegeographicalincidenceofB.pseudomalleiandtypicalclinicalfeaturesofthediseasearereviewed.NosingleB.pseudomalleideterminanthasbeenshowntohavearoleinvirulenceduringhumandisease,persistenceorlatency.However,putativevirulencefactorsincludequorumsensing,atypeIIIsecretionsystem,capsularpolysaccharideand,withlessconclusiveevidence,lipopolysaccharideandflagella.B.pseudomalleiisanintracellularpathogenthatmultiplieswithinmacrophages.Recentdatahaveshedlightonthemechanismsthatthisbacteriumusestoadaptto,andexploit,theintracellularenvironment.IFN-γandTNF-