Genome-Wide Saturation Mutagenesis of Burkholderia pseudomallei K96243 Predicts Essential Genes and Novel Targets for Antimicrobial Development

Abstract

Burkholderia pseudomallei is a lethal human pathogen that is considered a potential bioterrorism threat and has limited treatment options due to an unusually high natural resistance to most antibiotics. We have identified a set of genes that are required for bacterial growth and thus are excellent candidates against which to develop potential novel antibiotics. To validate our approach, we constructed four mutants in which gene expression can be turned on and off conditionally to confirm that these genes are required for the bacteria to survive.