Mycobacterium litorale sp. nov., a rapidly growing mycobacterium from soil

Abstract

A Gram-positive, acid-fast and rapidly growing rod, designated F4 T , was isolated from a soil sample of Haikou in China. The isolate shared 98.2 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with Mycobacterium monacense B9-21-178 T , 96.2 % hsp65 sequence similarity with M. monacense FI-05352 and 79.6 % 16S-23S rRNA internal transcribed spacer sequence similarity with M. monacense B9-21-178 T . DNA-DNA relatedness between the isolate and M. monacense DSM 44395 T was 43.5 %. The morphological analysis and physiological tests also showed that the isolate differed from any strain reported to date. The mycolic acid profile and the cellular fatty acid composition were also determined. On the basis of phenotypic and chemotaxonomic characteristics and phylogenetic data, it was concluded that strain F4 T (5CGMCC 4.5724 T 5JCM 17423 T ) merited classification as the type strain of a novel species, for which the name Mycobacterium litorale sp. nov. is proposed.The genus Mycobacterium is represented by a wide range of species. It is a heterogeneous group in terms of occurrence in clinical and environmental materials, complex phenotypic and genetic data and association with disease. The genus was first described by Lehmann and Neumann in 1896, with Mycobacterium tuberculosis as the type species (Skerman et al., 1980). The genus comprises 149 recognized species and has two main divisions: slowly growing and rapidly growing species. Rapidly growing mycobacteria are increasingly recognized as a cause of human infections. This group of mycobacteria is heterogeneous in terms of epidemiology, clinical disease spectrum and drug susceptibility. Therefore, it is important to identify rapidly growing mycobacteria to the species level, but their identification by conventional biochemical methods is limited. In recent years, the development of molecular techniques has led to a more accurate description of the genus Mycobacterium. To overcome the limitations of conventional methods, several molecular analyses based on housekeeping genes, such as the 16S rRNA gene (Rogall et al., 1990;Springer et al., 1996), hsp65 (Kim et al., 2005 and the 16S-23S rRNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) (Roth et al., 1998), have been used for species identification.Strain F4 T was isolated from a soil sample collected from the seashore of Haikou, Hainan Province, China. Soil (1 g) was suspended in distilled water (100 ml), serially diluted, spread on ISP 2 (Shirling & Gottlieb, 1966) and incubated at 37 u C for 3 days. Strain F4 T was maintained on LB agar (Stanier et al., 1966) at 4 u C and stored in 20 % (v/v) glycerol at 220 u C.Standard biochemical tests were performed. Cultures were grown on LB agar, Sauton's medium and tryptone soy agar (TSA) at 37 u C. The isolate was examined for colony morphology and pigmentation after 3 days on LB agar at 37 uC. Gram-staining was performed using the methods of Smibert & Krieg (1994). Acid fastness was studied using modified Kinyoun acid-fast stains (Berd, 1973). Hydrolysis of urea was determined in the following liquid ...

Molecular Identification of Nontuberculous Mycobacteria in Humans in Zimbabwe Using 16S Ribosequencing

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Microbiological Features and Clinical Relevance of New Species of the Genus Mycobacterium

“…litorale was described in 2012, on the basis of a single strain isolated from a soil sample from a seashore in China (55).…”

Complete Genome Sequence of Mycolicibacterium sp. Strain NIID-NTM18, Isolated from Cardiac Implantable Electronic Device Infection and Most Similar to Mycolicibacterium litorale

“… Mycolicibacterium litorale is an RGM species that was originally isolated from an environmental soil sample in Haikou, China. Our previous study showed that this species could cause CIED infection ( 6 , 7 ). Here, we report the complete genome sequence of Mycolicibacterium sp.…”