iBB

Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc) bacteria are exposed for several years to a stressful and changing environment during cystic fibrosis (CF) chronic lung infections. These challenging conditions lead to genetic changes of the initial infecting strain, resulting in the diversification of genotypes and phenotypes. The study recently published in Frontiers in Microbiology, coordinated by Prof. Isabel Sá-Correia and having as first author Dr. Ana S. Moreira who developed this work during her studies for the PhD degree in Biotechnology and Biosciences, provided insights into the metabolic diversification of Burkholderia cenocepacia clonal variants during infection of the CF airways, using a high resolution 1H-NMR-based metabolomic approach coupled to multivariate analysis. Results further revealed a variable content of several amino acids and the metabolites glycine-betaine and trehalose with demonstrated cellular protective functions in the four clonal isolates examined and suggested that glycolysis and glyoxylate shunt are favored in late isolates. Click on title to learn more.