GENOMIC COMPLEXITY AND PLASTICITY OF BURKHOLDERIA-CEPACIA

Burkholderia cepacia has attracted attention because of its extraordin ary degradative abilities and its potential as a pathogen for plants a nd for humans. This bacterium was formerly considered to belong to the genus Pseudomonas in the gamma-subclass of the Proteobacteria, but re cently has been assigned to the beta-subclass based on rrn gene sequen ce analyses and other key phenotypic characteristics. The B. cepacia g enome is comprised of multiple chromosomes and is rich in insertion se quences. These two features may have played a key role in the evolutio n of novel degradative functions and the unusual adaptability of this bacterium.