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Updated: May 8, 2026

Total Protein Extraction and 2-D Gel Electrophoresis Methods for Burkholderia Species
Published on: October 15, 2013
Is hydrogen cyanide a marker of Burkholderia cepacia complex?
Francis J Gilchrist1, Hayley Sims, Alice Alcock
1Academic Department of Child Health, University Hospital of North Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent, United Kingdom.
Abstract:
Biofilm cultures of Burkholderia cepacia complex (BCC) infection have been found to generate the nonvolatile cyanide ion. We investigated if gaseous hydrogen cyanide (HCN) was a marker of BCC infection. Selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry analysis showed HCN was not elevated in the headspace of planktonic or biofilm cultures or in the exhaled breath of adult cystic fibrosis patients with chronic BCC infection. HCN is therefore not an in vitro or in vivo marker of BCC.
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