Comparison of Microbiological Characteristics and Genetic Diversity between Burkholderia cepacia Complex Isolates from Vascular Access and Other Clinical Infections

Abstract

Burkholderia cepacia complex (BCC) is a group of closely related bacteria with widespread environmental distribution. BCC bacteria are opportunistic pathogens that cause nosocomial infections in patients, especially cystic fibrosis (CF). Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) is used nowadays to differentiate species within the BCC complex. This study collected 41 BCC isolates from vascular access infections (VAIs) and other clinical infections between 2014 and 2020. We preliminarily identified bacterial isolates using standard biochemical procedures and further conducted recA gene sequencing and MLST for species identification. We determined genetic diversity indices using bioinformatics software. We studied 14 isolates retrieved from patients with VAIs and observed that Burkholderia cepacia was the predominant bacterial species, and B. contaminans followed by B. cenocepacia were mainly retrieved from patients with other infections. According to MLST data, we identified that all B. contaminans isolates belonged to ST102, while a wide variety of sequence types (STs) were found in B. cenocepacia isolates. In summary, the high diversity and easy transmission of BCC increase BCC infections, which provides insights into their potential clinical effects in non-CF infections.