Bacterium
Burkholderia cepacia complex
Non-fermenter, cystic fibrosis lung pathogen
burk-hol-DER-ee-uh seh-PAY-shee-uh
High-yield clue
Non-fermenting Gram-negative rod that is an ominous lung pathogen in cystic fibrosis and is intrinsically multidrug resistant.
Overview
A group of environmental non-fermenting Gram-negative rods studied as opportunistic pathogens that are especially significant in people with cystic fibrosis and chronic granulomatous disease.
Classification
- Gram-negative
- Rod
- Burkholderiaceae
- Aerobe
- Non-fermenter
Lab & identification clues
- Oxidase positive (often weak) vocabulary
- Non-lactose-fermenting on MacConkey
- Intrinsic multidrug-resistance vocabulary
- Environmental water/soil origin concept
Associations
- Cystic fibrosis lung infection vocabulary
- Chronic granulomatous disease association
- Contaminated antiseptic/solution outbreak framing
Commonly confused with
- Pseudomonas aeruginosa
- Stenotrophomonas maltophilia
Your notes
Original student-study summary. Sources checked: OpenStax Microbiology 2e, NCBI Bookshelf Medical Microbiology, and CDC topic pages where applicable; reviewed 2026-06. Educational only; no diagnosis, treatment, dosing, or specimen-handling guidance.