Given the need for more noninvasive means of tracking bacterial infection, the objectives of the current study were set to: (i) demonstrate the tk bioengineering potential in three critical pathogens - P. aeruginosa, A. baumannii and B. pseudomallei, that lack the tk gene; (ii) utilize PET imaging to determine the sensitivity of detection at a given bacterial infection site within a reasonable time post-infection and (iii) establish the utility of bioengineered pathogens for developing in vivo therapeutic imaging model(s) for noninvasive evaluation of drug candidates in the host. Here, TKT is linked to infection.