Burkholderia species

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Burkholderia species

Culture Characteristics:
  • B. pseudomallei grows on sheep blood agar (SBA), chocolate (CHOC) agar, and MacConkey (MAC) agar
  • B. mallei grows on very slowly on SBA and CHOC, but little or no growth on MAC
Colony Morphology on SBA at 35oC:
  • B. mallei: Smooth, gray, translucent colonies at 48 hours as displayed in the top, right image
  • B. pseudomallei: Smooth, creamy, white colonies at 24 hours as displayed in the lower image on the right
  • B. pseudomallei: May become dry and wrinkled as shown in the image below, often with a purplish hue at 48-72 hours
Colony Morphology on MAC at 35oC:
  • B. pseudomallei: Pink colonies at 24-48 hours (may be colorless at 48 hours)
  • B.mallei: No growth or light pink colonies at 72 hours
B. pseudomallei on CHOC at 72h image courtesy of CDC

B. mallei on SBA at 48h image courtesy of CDC
B. pseudomallei on SBA at 48h image courtesy of CDC