Burkholderia pseudomallei and Burkholderia mallei are two closely related gram-negative bacterial species classified by the CDC as category B biowarfare agents. To develop monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) that can recognize as many different strains and/or clinical isolates of these two pathogens as possible, we immunized mice with heat-killed bacterial whole cells and membrane preparations from multiple strains and/or clinical isolates of B. pseudomallei and B. mallei. More than 100 different hybridoma clones that produced MAbs strongly reacting to B. pseudomallei and/or B. mallei have been developed. These MAbs were categorized into eight different groups according to their reaction specificity against different species of Burkholderia bacteria as well as the different nature of target antigens (LPS, capsule polysaccharides, proteins, and glycoproteins) on the bacteria they recognized. Characterization of this large panel of MAbs has demonstrated an interesting pattern of various antigenic epitopes shared by the different species of Burkholderia bacteria. More importantly, this study has revealed a pathogenicity-linked antigen epitope(s) on capsule-like polysaccharides found only in the pathogenic species of Burkholderia bacteria and a Burkholderia-specific antigen epitope(s) that did not exist in other gram-negative bacterial species. Our MAbs should prove to be highly valuable in the development of detection, diagnosis, and therapeutic applications against B. mallei and B. pseudomallei infections.
Many studies have reported the presence of bacterial DNA contamination in commercial Taq DNA polymerase reagents. This is the first report of the presence of phage-like DNA sequences in certain commercial Taq DNA polymerase reagents. Precautions are needed when using amplification reagents with exogenous DNAs.
Burkholderia mallei and B. pseudomallei are designated category B biothreat agents on the "select agents" list established by the NIH and CDC. Development of monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) that could effectively differentiate these two closely related species of bacteria and other non-pathogenic Burkholderia bacteria is urgently needed. Splenocytes from mice immunized with various antigen preparations from either B. mallei (American Type Culture Collection [ATCC] 23344) or B. pseudomallei (ATCC 23343) were used for production of hybridomas. Using a three-step cross-screening protocol, a total of 10 hybridomas were selected that produced MAbs which specifically recognized B. mallei 23344 but did not bind B. pseudomallei, Pseudomonas aeruginasa, or any of the other nine Burkholderia species tested. All 10 MAbs targeted to the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) molecules of B. mallei and reacted strongly with 12 out of 15 different strains of B. mallei tested. A total of 14 hybridomas that produced MAbs reacting with B. pseudomallei 23343, but not with B. mallei, P. aeruginasa, or any other nine non-pathogenic Burkholderia species were also selected. All 14 MAbs appeared to react with a proteinase K-sensitive 200-kDa band by immunoblotting analysis. Surprisingly, these 14 MAbs that were raised against the ATCC 23343 strain failed to react to any of the other 13 different strains of B. pseudomallei examined. In conclusion, our B. mallei-specific MAbs can effectively recognize 80% of the different B. mallei strains tested, and all the B. pseudomallei-specific MAbs appeared to react with a unique antigen present only in the ATCC 23343 strain, but not in any other strains of B. pseudomallei tested.
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