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. 2001 Aug;39(8):2891-6.
doi: 10.1128/JCM.39.8.2891-2896.2001.

Burkholderia cepacia complex infection in Italian patients with cystic fibrosis: prevalence, epidemiology, and genomovar status

A Agodi  1 , E Mahenthiralingam, M Barchitta, V Gianninò, A Sciacca, S Stefani
Affiliations

Burkholderia cepacia complex infection in Italian patients with cystic fibrosis: prevalence, epidemiology, and genomovar status

A Agodi et al. J Clin Microbiol. 2001 Aug.

Abstract

The prevalence, epidemiology, and genomovar status of Burkholderia cepacia complex strains recovered from Italian cystic fibrosis (CF) patients were investigated using genetic typing and species identification methods. Four CF treatment centers were examined: two in Sicily, one in central Italy, and one in northern Italy. B. cepacia complex bacteria were isolated from 59 out of 683 CF patients attending these centers (8.6%). For the two geographically related treatment centers in Sicily, there was a high incidence of infection caused by a single epidemic clone possessing the cblA gene and belonging to B. cepacia genomovar III, recA group III-A, closely related to the major North America-United Kingdom clone, ET12; instability of the cblA sequence was also demonstrated for clonal isolates. In summary, of all the strains of B. cepacia encountered in the Italian CF population, the genomovar III, recA group III-A strains were the most prevalent and transmissible. However, patient-to-patient spread was also observed with several other genomovars, including strains of novel taxonomic status within the B. cepacia complex. A combination of genetic identification and molecular typing analysis is recommended to fully define specific risks posed by the genomovar status of strains within the B. cepacia complex.

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Figures

FIG. 1
FIG. 1
Phylogenetic tree of the B. cepacia complex based on the recA gene. The location of the Catania cable pilus-encoding strain within genomovar III-A is shown (represented by strain CG 10/3). Multiple sequence alignment was performed, and the tree was rooted with the published recA sequence from Bordetella pertussis. Genetic distance is indicated by the scale.
FIG. 2
FIG. 2
PFGE-macrorestriction profiles of different cblA or esmR variants of the Sicilian epidemic clone. (A) Lanes 1 to 4, isolates from different Sicilian patients; lane 5, ET12 strain C5424 (16). (B) Lanes 1 to 4, cblA or esmR variants of the epidemic clone from different Sicilian patients. A λ ladder molecular size marker was run in the lane labeled M, and the size of relevant bands is indicated in kilobases. The presence (+) or absence (−) of the cblA and esmR markers is indicated below each lane.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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