the complexity of the identification of burkholderia cepacia strain which caused septicemia

Background: the correct identifying of pathogenic burkholderia spp. using available commercial biochemical systems is a certain problem due to metabolic plasticity and variable enzymatic profile of isolates. objectives: the current study aimed at using specific pcr and conventional multi-locus sequence typing (mlst) scheme to confirm the uncertain identification results for burkholderia cepacia clinical isolate. methods: multilocus species-specific pcr and mlst profiling of high-throughput sequencing data have been used to clarify the varied results of biochemical identification of the strain. results: the strain isolated from a patient with septicemia was initially identified as b. pseudomallei by vitek 2 gn system but has an uncharacteristic antimicrobial resistance pattern and colony morphology. a species-specific multilocus pcr and whole-genome sequence profiling, according to the mlst scheme, allowed to identify an isolate as b. cepacia. conclusions: the obtained results demonstrate the preference of molecular tests for correct identifying of pathogenic burkholderia, considering that misidentification of those may lead to improper treatment or increase of biosafety risk.