Burkholderia pseudomallei is a flexible bacterium which makes it to survive in wide variety of antagonist environment, including nutrient deficiency, acid and alkali pH, disinfectant and antiseptic solutions, exposure to many antibiotics, and extremes of temperature. It adapts to its many hosts, producing proteases, lipases, lecithinase, catalase, peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, hemolysins, a cytotoxic exolipid, and a siderophore. They are resistant to complement lysosomal defensins and cationic peptidases (White, 2003). It produces an important virulence determinant; glycocalyx polysaccharide capsule (Steinmetz et al., 1995). There is a phenotypic change in the organism and results in significant antibiotic resistance when the capsule allows forming microcolonies in a protective environment (Vorachit et al., 1993).

The organism alters the external surfaces of the infected cells which causes the surfaces to fuse with the membranes of neighboring cells leading to Multi Nucleated Giant Cell (MNGC) formation and actin-associated membrane protrusion. This contributes cell to cell spreading in infected hosts (Kespichayawattana et al., 2000).