@article{Sarovich2016-ww,

title = {Phylogenomic analysis reveals an Asian origin for African 

 Burkholderia pseudomallei and further supports melioidosis 

 endemicity in Africa},

author = {Derek S Sarovich and Benoit Garin and Birgit De Smet and Mirjam Kaestli and Mark Mayo and Peter Vandamme and Jan Jacobs and Palpouguini Lompo and Marc C Tahita and Halidou Tinto and Innocente Djaomalaza and Bart J Currie and Erin P Price},

year  = {2016},

date = {2016-03-01},

journal = {mSphere},

volume = {1},

number = {2},

publisher = {American Society for Microbiology},

abstract = {Burkholderia pseudomallei, an environmental bacterium that 

 causes the deadly disease melioidosis, is endemic in northern 

 Australia and Southeast Asia. An increasing number of 

 melioidosis cases are being reported in other tropical regions, 

 including Africa and the Indian Ocean islands. B. pseudomallei 

 first emerged in Australia, with subsequent rare dissemination 

 event(s) to Southeast Asia; however, its dispersal to other 

 regions is not yet well understood. We used large-scale 

 comparative genomics to investigate the origins of three B. 

 pseudomallei isolates from Madagascar and two from Burkina Faso. 

 Phylogenomic reconstruction demonstrates that these African B. 

 pseudomallei isolates group into a single novel clade that 

 resides within the more ancestral Asian clade. Intriguingly, 

 South American strains reside within the African clade, 

 suggesting more recent dissemination from West Africa to the 

 Americas. Anthropogenic factors likely assisted in B. 

 pseudomallei dissemination to Africa, possibly during migration 

 of the Austronesian peoples from Indonesian Borneo to Madagascar 

 ~2,000 years ago, with subsequent genetic diversity driven by 

 mutation and recombination. Our study provides new insights into 

 global patterns of B. pseudomallei dissemination and adds to the 

 growing body of evidence of melioidosis endemicity in Africa. 

 Our findings have important implications for melioidosis 

 diagnosis and management in Africa. IMPORTANCE Sporadic 

 melioidosis cases have been reported in the African mainland and 

 Indian Ocean islands, but until recently, these regions were not 

 considered areas where B. pseudomallei is endemic. Given the 

 high mortality rate of melioidosis, it is crucial that this 

 disease be recognized and suspected in all regions of 

 endemicity. Previous work has shown that B. pseudomallei 

 originated in Australia, with subsequent introduction into Asia; 

 however, the precise origin of B. pseudomallei in other tropical 

 regions remains poorly understood. Using whole-genome 

 sequencing, we characterized B. pseudomallei isolates from 

 Madagascar and Burkina Faso. Next, we compared these strains to 

 a global collection of B. pseudomallei isolates to identify 

 their evolutionary origins. We found that African B. 

 pseudomallei strains likely originated from Asia and were 

 closely related to South American strains, reflecting a 

 relatively recent shared evolutionary history. We also 

 identified substantial genetic diversity among African strains, 

 suggesting long-term B. pseudomallei endemicity in this region.},

keywords = {Burkholderia; epidemiology; infectious disease; melioidosis;   phylogeography; population genetics},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}