A 28-years evolution experiment on Burkholderia pseudomallei survival in nutrient-depleted sterile water

Burkholderia pseudomallei is an environmental bacterium and the causative agent of neglected but often fatal infectious disease "Melioidosis". This bacterium can persist across diverse ecological niches, including prolonged exposure to nutrient-depleted environments. However, its adaptive strategies remain pooly understood. Here, we leveraged comparative genomics of a founder B. pseudomallei 207a strain and its descendants recovered after 28 years in sterile water to investigate the bacterium's evolutionary trajectory under extreme conditions.