A highly virulent BA-producing Burkholderia gladioli strain linked to a fatal foodborne outbreak in China, 2020

作者：Jinrui Hu, Yucheng Xue, Jinhui Zhang, Jinyue Liu, Xiaohua Zheng, Jing Bai, Zhigang Cui, Weiqi Zhong, Haijian Zhou · 发表于：Infection Genetics and Evolution · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1016/j.meegid.2025.105760 · 被引用次数：5 · 研究领域：Plant Pathogenic Bacteria Studies、Burkholderia infections and melioidosis、Infections and bacterial resistance

BACKGROUND: Burkholderia gladioli, particularly its pathovar cocovenenans, poses a significant public health threat through the production of bongkrekic acid (BA), a lethal tricarboxylic fatty acid encoded by the bon gene cluster. Despite the rarity of BA-associated outbreaks, historical cases in Asia and Mozambique demonstrate mortality rates exceeding 30 %. METHODS: In October 2020, a foodborne outbreak occurred in Heilongjiang, China, linked to homemade fermented corn. Nine symptomatic patients developed acute gastroenteritis within 3 h and died within 14 days. Routine pathogen screening, aflatoxin quantification, and toxicological analyses were performed. B. gladioli was isolated from contaminated corn flour, identified via VITEK 2 Compact and genomic sequencing. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was conducted using the BD Phoenix system. Genomic analysis characterized the bon cluster, resistance genes, and phylogeny. RESULTS: BA concentrations reached 330.16 mg/kg in corn flour and 3.16 mg/L in gastric fluid. One strain YD01, was isolated from the corn flour sample. The isolate exhibited elevated MIC values for β-lactams (e.g., ceftazidime, aztreonam), nitrofurantoin, and colistin, but susceptibility to tetracycline and meropenem using 2024 CLSI breakpoints. Whole-genome sequencing confirmed a 67.5-kbp bon cluster homologous to BA-producing strains and identified antibiotic resistance genes (smeR, smeE, mexB, LRA-1, and B. pseudomallei omp38) associated with efflux pu...