Investigating biofilm formation, cblA and cblC genes prevalence and antibiotic resistance profiles in Burkholderia cenocepacia

Background: Burkholderia cenocepacia is a member of the Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc), a group of closely related and phenotypically similar species. In the present study, we aimed to determine the biofilm formation capacity of Burkholderia cenocepacia and the impact of clove oil on their biofilm formation capability with the detection of two genes that are involved in pili formation. Methods: In this study 10 bacterial strains belonging to Burkhorderia cenocepacia were used to investigate biofilm formation by Micro Titer Plate Method (MTP) with the detection of two genes that were involved in pili formation by PCR and antibiotic susceptibility profile were determined by Kirby and Bauer method. Results: Our findings indicated that 60% of B. cenocepacia strains exhibited strong biofilm formation which then lowered to 30% after treatment with Clove oil whereas 40% of the strains exhibited moderate biofilm formers which then lowered to 30% with 40% weak biofilm formers after treatment with Clove oil. The results of PCR amplification showed that all 7 strains were positive for cblA gene at 238bp whereas only 2 of 7 strains were positive for cblC genes at 220bp. The bacteria exhibited varying susceptibilities to antibiotics with 100% sensitivity toward meropenem and 90% to resistance toward trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole. Conclusion: Our results indicate that clove oil has the potential to be used as a therapeutic agent since it dramatically lowers the formation of biofilms, especially in strong biofilm producers. According to molecular analysis the cblA gene was consistently present in all strains while the cblC gene was detected in just a portion of the strains, indicating genetic diversity. B. cenocepacia strains also showed significant resistance to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, despite being extremely sensitive to meropenem. These findings highlight how complicated antibiotic resistance is in B. cenocepacia.