Burkholderia multivorans Genome sequencing

Burkholderia multivorans is a member of the Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc) whose members are inherently resistant to many antibiotics and can cause chronic lung infections in patients with cystic fibrosis. A possible treatment for chronic infections arises from the existence of collateral sensitivity (CS) – acquired resistance to a treatment antibiotic results in a decreased resistance to a non-treatment antibiotic. Determining CS patterns for bacteria involved in chronic infections may lead to sustainable treatment regimens that reduce development of multidrug resistant bacterial strains. CS has been found to occur in E. coli, P. aeruginosa, and S. aureus. Here we report that B. multivorans exhibits antibiotic CS, as well as cross resistance (CR), describe CS and CR networks for six antibiotics (ceftazidime, chloramphenicol, levofloxacin, meropenem, minocycline, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole), and identify candidate genes involved in CS. Characterization of CS and CR patterns allow antibiotics to be separated into two clusters based on the treatment drug to which the evolved strain developed primary resistance, identification of which is the first step towards predicting antibiotic therapy strategies.