Members of the genus Burkholderia are a fascinating group of bacteria exhibiting immense ecological and metabolic diversity. Their notoriety as pathogens, including that of potential biological weapons, is ironically matched by their value as biopesticides and bioremediators. For example, B. cepacia complex organisms can reduce an onion bulb to a macerated pulp, protect other crops from bacterial and fungal disease, "clean up" aquifers and soils contaminated by recalcitrant herbicides, colonise the lungs of people with cystic fibrosis and, if this diversity is not...