Walter H. Burkholder
Encyclopedia
Walter H. Burkholder was an American plant pathologist who helped establish the role of bacteria
Bacteria
Bacteria are a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals...

 as plant pathogens. He was awarded a Ph.D. by Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...

 in 1917 and subsequently appointed as professor of plant pathology.

In 1950 he first described the bacteria, Pseudomonas cepacia, later Burkholderia
Burkholderia
Burkholderia is a genus of proteobacteria probably best known for its pathogenic members:Burkholderia mallei, responsible for glanders, a disease that occurs mostly in horses and related animals;...

spp., responsible for causing sour skin disease in onions and colonising the rhizosphere
Rhizosphere (ecology)
The rhizosphere is the narrow region of soil that is directly influenced by root secretions and associated soil microorganisms. Soil which is not part of the rhizosphere is known as bulk soil. The rhizosphere contains many bacteria that feed on sloughed-off plant cells, termed rhizodeposition, and...

 of many plant species. Bacterial strains from the Burkholderia cepacia complex
Burkholderia cepacia complex
Burkholderia cepacia complex , or simply Burkholderia cepacia is a group of catalase-producing, non-lactose-fermenting Gram-negative bacteria composed of at least seventeen different species, including B. cepacia, B. multivorans, B. cenocepacia, B. vietnamiensis, B. stabilis, B. ambifaria, B....

(Bcc) are opportunistic pathogens in humans with cystic fibrosis
Cystic fibrosis
Cystic fibrosis is a recessive genetic disease affecting most critically the lungs, and also the pancreas, liver, and intestine...

 and have been implicated in vertebral osteomyelitis
Osteomyelitis
Osteomyelitis simply means an infection of the bone or bone marrow...

 in intravenous drug abusers. This complex of at least 9 closely related species or genomovar
Genomovar
Genomovar is a term commonly used within the genus Burkholderia to denote strains which are phylogenetically differentiable, but are phenotypically indistinguishable. A genomovar cannot be identified by standard biochemical tests, but it is classified as a species when a biochemical test allows it...

s is currently the focus of research because of their remarkable variability as plant and human pathogens, saprophytes
Saprophytes
Saprophytes may refer to*Saprotroph, a term used for organisms which obtain nutrients from dead organic matter...

, and biocontrol and bioremediation agents.

Burkholder was a member of the Society of American Bacteriologists

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