Development of aptamers specific for potential diagnostic targets in Burkholderia pseudomallei.

Improved diagnostic reagents would be of considerable benefit in enhancing the specificity and sensitivity of rapid assays for Burkholderia pseudomallei, the causative agent of melioidosis. The purpose of this work is to develop aptamers, high affinity RNA-based molecular recognition molecules, which could be used as reagents for identification of the whole organism in assays of biological samples. Data are presented demonstrating the purification of recombinant B. pseudomallei secreted or surface-exposed macromolecules, which have been expressed in Escherichia coli, and the initial stages of aptamer generation using these recombinant proteins. Future studies will focus upon the expansion of this methodology to include other target macromolecules located on or near the outer membrane of this organism.