Molecular characterization of Burkholderia using 16S rDNA isolated from cabbage, Limpopo province, South Africa

Enterobacter species are gram-negative, motile, non-spore-forming, rod-shaped, facultatively anaerobic bacteria of the Burkholderiaceae family. Burkholderia includes several species, which can be risky pathogenic bacteria to vegetables, including cabbage, and therefore have an impact on the fresh production of cabbage. This study was conducted to isolate and identify Burkholderia from a cabbage field in Limpopo Province, South Africa. Therefore, this molecular study was conducted in 2023 at Limpopo University to identify the bacterium associated with cabbage filed from South Africa's soils using 16S rDNA marker. The DNA was extracted using the Chelex method. The bacterium was identified as Burkholderia. The Nblast analysis showed that South African Burkholderia had 95% similarity with a population from South Africa (MG593873). Phylogenetic analysis using maximum likelihood placed this species with those molecularly identified as Burkholderia in the same clade with highly supported (100) bootstrap values. In conclusion, this species was identified using 16S rDNA properly. However, using other DNA markers for a better understanding of Burkholderia phylogeny is recommended.