Main Entry: Burk·hol·de·ria

Pronunciation: \ˌbərk-hōl-ˈder-ē-ə\

Function: noun

: a genus of bacteria (family Burkholderiaceae) formerly placed in the genus Pseudomonas and including the causative agents of glanders (B. mallei) and melioidosis (B. pseudomallei)

Burkholder, Walter Hagemeyer (1891–1983), American botanist. In 1950, Burkholder, a plant pathologist at Cornell University, identified and described the causative agent for a disease in onions that turns healthy specimens into slimy mush. This pathogen is now known as Burkholderia cepacia, and the genus to which it belongs was reclassified and named in the botanist's honor. In recent years, Burkholderia cepacia has emerged as an opportunistic infectious agent in hospitalized patients and in individuals affected with cystic fibrosis.