Burkholderia: An Untapped but Promising Bacterial Genus for the Conversion of Aromatic Compounds

Burkholderia, a bacterial genus comprising more than 120 species, is typically reported to inhabit soil and water environments. These Gram-negative bacteria harbor a variety of aromatic catabolic pathways and are thus potential organisms for bioremediation of sites contaminated with aromatic pollutants. However, there are still substantial gaps in our knowledge of these catabolic processes that must be filled before these pathways and organisms can be harnessed for biotechnological applications. This review presents recent discoveries on the catabolism of monoaromatic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, as well as of heterocyclic compounds, by a diversity of Burkholderia strains. We also present a perspective on the beneficial features of Burkholderia spp. and future directions for their potential utilization in the bioremediation and bioconversion of aromatic compounds. Burkholderia is a versatile genus that can tolerate and degrade a variety of aromatic compounds (monoaromatic, polycyclic aromatic, and heterocyclic). It is therefore an increasingly promising host for bioremediation and bioconversion applications.Despite the positive features of Burkholderia in degrading aromatic compounds and promoting plant growth, this genus remains understudied compared with other aromatic catabolizing bacteria.Modern systems biology tools (such as multi-omic analyses) and metabolic engineering are currently being applied to elucidate catabolic pathways in Burkholderia.Degradation studies in the presence of cosubstrates confirm the importance of considering the environmental conditions to reach better conclusions regarding bioremediation efficiency.