Genomic patterns of pathogen evolution revealed by comparison of Burkholderia pseudomallei, the causative agent of melioidosis, to avirulent Burkholderia thailandensis.

Background: The Gram-negative bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei (Bp) is the causative agent of the human disease melioidosis. To understand the evolutionary mechanisms contributing to Bp virulence, we performed a comparative genomic analysis of Bp K96243 and B. thailandensis (Bt) E264, a closely related but avirulent relative.