Enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC)-PCR analysis as a trace for Burkholderia pseudomallei in Myanmar

Melioidosis is a potentially fatal disease caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei, which is endemic in Southeast Asia, including Myanmar. The typeability of enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC)-PCR assessed for 21 B. pseudomallei, they used the results of sequence types (STs) of the multilocus sequence typing (MLST) method. Among 5 soil and 16 clinical B. pseudomallei isolates, the most significant bands were similar in position but different in minor band formation. ST 90 of two soil strains (Tontae_NMBP001 and Tontae_NMBP002) displayed the same ERIC banding pattern, while ST 56 of two clinical isolates (MMBP005 and MMBP010) from different regions exhibited a single type. The same ST found both clusters in the MLST method. The shared group STs showed four or three satellite variants in the MLST scheme. One novel studied ST (ST 1729) and regarded it as an out-group in the ERIC pattern. ERIC PCR demonstrated high discriminatory power, while MLST provided more discrimination for genetic diversity. MLST requires extensive sequencing and bioinformatics analysis, making it challenging to implement in resource-limited settings. More isolates are needed to validate these findings. Despite its limitations, ERIC PCR represents a valuable and cost-effective alternative to MLST for molecular typing of B. pseudomallei in resource-limited settings.