SMRT technology was used to detect motifs and modifications in several Bcc members, as well as to investigate methylation patterns in B. cenocepacia strain H111.. An investigation of Burkholderia cepacia complex methylomes via SMRT sequencing and mutant analysis

While nucleotide sequence determines an organism’s proteins, methylation of the nucleotides themselves can confer additional properties. In bacteria, methyltransferases methylate specific motifs to allow discrimination of ‘self’ from ‘non-self’ DNA, e.g. from bacteriophages. Restriction enzymes detect ‘non-self’ methylation patterns and cut foreign DNA. Furthermore, methylation of promoter regions can influence gene expression and hence affect phenotype. In this study, we determined the methylated motifs of four strains from the Burkholderia cepacia complex of opportunistic pathogens.