Genomovars of Burkholderia cepacia Complex from Rice Rhizosphere and Clinic in China

Burkholderia cepacia is regarded as a genetically distinct but phenotypically similar bacteria group referring to Burkholderia cepacia complex （Bcc）, which is found not only in clinic but also in rice growing environment. It is very important in microbial safety of rice for us to understand the genomovar status of Bcc. Genomovar analysis was performed among 87 Bcc isolates by means of Hae Ⅲ-recA RFLP assays and species-specific PCR tests. Three genomovars were found from the rice rhizosphere including Ⅰ, ⅢB and V, and genomovar V was predominant. Genomovars Ⅰ, ⅢA and ⅢB existed in the clinical samples, and genomovar ⅢA was the most popular. It showed that genomovar composition was different between the Bcc strains from the rice rhizosphere and clinical environment. Simultaneously, the results revealed the genetic diversity of Bcc strains from the rice rhizosphere, and genomovar Ⅲ referred as virulent species in clinic also existed in the rice rhizosphere.