El controvertido complejo Burkholderia cepacia, un grupo de especies promotoras del crecimiento vegetal y patógenas de plantas, animales y humanos / The controversial Burkholderia cepacia complex, a group of plant growth promoting species and plant, animals and human pathogens

El complejo Burkholderia cepacia está formado por 22 especies conocidas como patógenos oportunistas en personas inmunocomprometidas, especialmente en aquellas con fibrosis quística. También se aíslan de infecciones nosocomiales y son difíciles de erradicar debido a su capacidad intrínseca para resistir una gran variedad de antibióticos. En general, estas especies presentan genomas de gran tamaño (hasta 9 Mpb) divididos en 2-5 replicones. Esta característica aporta una gran versatilidad metabólica, que se considera importante para habitar el suelo, el agua, las plantas, incluso los nódulos en leguminosas. Algunas especies del complejo B. cepacia exhiben actividades benéficas, como biorremediación, biocontrol y promoción del crecimiento vegetal. No obstante, debido a su papel en infecciones de humanos, su uso en la agricultura está restringido. El complejo B. cepacia es un tema constante de estudio debido a su impacto en el sector salud y su potencial en la agricultura. En este trabajo se examina la historia del complejo B. cepacia y se revisa la información reciente relacionada con este grupo de bacterias.

The Burkholderia cepacia complex is a group of 22 species, which are known as opportunistic pathogens in immunocompromised people, especially those suffering from cystic fibrosis. It is also found in nosocomial infections and is difficult to eradicate due to intrinsic resistance to several antibiotics. The species have large genomes (up to 9 Mbp), distributed into 2-5 replicons. These features significantly contribute to genome plasticity, which makes them thrive in different environments like soil, water, plants or even producing nodules in legume plants. Some B. cepacia complex species are beneficial in bioremediation, biocontrol and plant-growth promotion. However, because the B. cepacia complex is involved in human infection, its use in agriculture is restricted. B. cepacia complex is being constantly studied due to the health problems that it causes and because of its agricultural potential. In this review, the history of B. cepacia complex and the most recently published information related to this complex are revised.

[The controversial Burkholderia cepacia complex, a group of plant growth promoting species and plant, animals and human pathogens]. / El controvertido complejo Burkholderia cepacia, un grupo de especies promotoras del crecimiento vegetal y patógenas de plantas, animales y humanos.

The Burkholderia cepacia complex is a group of 22 species, which are known as opportunistic pathogens in immunocompromised people, especially those suffering from cystic fibrosis. It is also found in nosocomial infections and is difficult to eradicate due to intrinsic resistance to several antibiotics. The species have large genomes (up to 9 Mbp), distributed into 2-5 replicons. These features significantly contribute to genome plasticity, which makes them thrive in different environments like soil, water, plants or even producing nodules in legume plants. Some B. cepacia complex species are beneficial in bioremediation, biocontrol and plant-growth promotion. However, because the B. cepacia complex is involved in human infection, its use in agriculture is restricted. B. cepacia complex is being constantly studied due to the health problems that it causes and because of its agricultural potential. In this review, the history of B. cepacia complex and the most recently published information related to this complex are revised.

Differential interaction of bacterial species from the Burkholderia cepacia complex with human airway epithelial cells.

To increase knowledge of the pathogenic potential of the Burkholderia cepacia complex (BCC), we investigated the effects of reference strains of the nine BCC species on human bronchial epithelial cells in vitro. B. multivorans exhibited the highest rates of adherence to and internalization by host cells. Two out of three clinical isolates recovered from cystic fibrosis patients confirmed the B. multivorans high adhesiveness. All four B. multivorans isolates exhibited an aggregated pattern of adherence but any of them expressed cable pili. When bacteria were centrifuged onto cell cultures to circumvent their poor adhesiveness, B. pyrrocinia exhibited the highest internalization rate, followed by B. multivorans. The percentages of apoptotic cells in cultures infected with B. cepacia, B. multivorans, B. cenocepacia (subgroups IIIA and IIIB), B. stabilis and B. vietnamiensis were significantly higher than in control non-infected cultures. All nine BCC species triggered a similar release of the inflammatory cytokine IL-8, that was not reduced by cell treatment with cytochalasin D. Hence, our data demonstrate, for the first time, that all BCC species exhibit a similar ability to induce the expression of host immune mediators whereas they differ on their ability to adhere to, invade and kill airway epithelial cells.