Bacterium
Burkholderia pseudomallei
Soil non-fermenter causing melioidosis
burk-hol-DER-ee-uh soo-doh-MAL-ee-eye
High-yield clue
Soil/water non-fermenter causing melioidosis with bipolar 'safety-pin' staining; a great mimicker that can reactivate years later.
Overview
An environmental Gram-negative non-fermenting rod found in tropical soil and water that causes melioidosis, a great-mimicker infection prominent in Southeast Asia and northern Australia.
Classification
- Gram-negative
- Rod
- Burkholderiaceae
- Aerobe
- Non-fermenter
Lab & identification clues
- Bipolar 'safety-pin' staining vocabulary
- Oxidase positive concept
- Wrinkled colony morphology note
- Soil and surface water origin vocabulary
Associations
- Southeast Asia and northern Australia geography vocabulary
- Soil/water and monsoon exposure transmission
- Latent reactivation ('great mimicker') framing
Commonly confused with
- Burkholderia cepacia complex
- Pseudomonas aeruginosa
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.