Burkholderia (Pseudomonas) cepacia

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Abstract
Burkholderia (Pseudomonas) cepacia appears to be a prime example of a plant-pathogenic bacterium which has adapted to survival and multiplication in man, and is a particular threat to cystic fibrosis patients. The species has at its disposal (a) an extensive array of biochemical activities which allow it to persist in the most limited of nutritional environments and to participate in xenobiotic degradation, (b) a notable intrinsic resistance, (c) the ability to produce and export diverse bioactive agents, (d) unusual surface chemistry. Thus the prevention, monitoring and control of infection due to B. cepacia remain serious challenges to clinical microbiologists, while the identity and significance of virulence factors remain topics of speculation and investigation. These various topics provide the themes of this pair of reviews. In the first, we focus particular attention on the chemistry of the bacterial outer membrane (especially the unusual features of its lipid and lipopolysaccharide components), and evaluate surface structures and components as markers for the serological typing of clinical isolates. (The second of this pair of reviews appears on pp. 10–16 of this issue of Reviews in Medical Microbiology.)

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