Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Joong-Ang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea A novel slow-growing, non-chromogenic mycobacterium (strain 01-305 T ) was isolated from a patient with pulmonary dysfunction. Growth characteristics, acid-fastness and the results of 16S rRNA gene sequencing supported the placement of this strain within the genus Mycobacterium. Phenotypically, strain 01-305 T was generally similar to Mycobacterium triviale ATCC 23292 T , but some unique biochemical characteristics were observed. The 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain 01-305 T was similar to those of M. triviale ATCC 23290 (GenBank accession no. AY734996, 99.9 % similarity) and M. triviale ATCC 23291 (AY734995, 99.9 %); however, it differed substantially from that of M. triviale ATCC 23292 T (X88924, 98.2 %). Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences placed strain 01-305 T in the slow-growing Mycobacterium group close to M. triviale ATCC 23290 and M. triviale ATCC 23291, but not M. triviale ATCC 23292 T . Unique mycolic acid profiles and phylogenetic analysis based on two different chronometer molecules, and the hsp65 and rpoB genes, strongly supported the taxonomic status of this strain as representing a distinct species. These data support the conclusion that strain 01-305 T represents a novel mycobacterial species, for which the name Mycobacterium koreense sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is 01-305 T (5DSM 45576 T 5KCTC 19819 T ).Mycobacteria are widely distributed in the environment, and some are pathogenic to humans and animals, some being saprophytic. In addition to strict pathogens, including the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and Mycobacterium leprae, non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are able to cause opportunistic infections (Tortoli, 2009). As they generally show species-specific resistance to antibacterial agents, there is an increasing need for precise identification of clinically isolated NTM. In an effort to differentiate and identify NTM, approximately 150 mycobacterial species have been described to date. Recently, the combination of conventional methods and molecular analyses, especially PCR-mediated sequencing methods, has been successfully applied to describe novel species in the genus Mycobacterium (Lee et al., 2010;Mun et al., 2007Mun et al., , 2008.The Mycobacterium terrae complex comprises several different species that are phenotypically very similar but genetically distinct, classically including M. terrae, Mycobacterium nonchromogenicum and Mycobacterium triviale (Lee et al., 2004;Tortoli, 2003). However, it is now clear that M. triviale is separate from this complex. Therefore, taxonomic separation between these species based on conventional biochemical tests is almost impossible, but they can be differentiated into distinct species based on genetic methods. Despite phenotypic similarity between Abbreviations: NTM, non-tuberculous mycobacteria; PNB, p-nitrobenzoate; TCH, thiophene-2-carboxylic acid hydrazide.The GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession numbers for the partial 16S rRN...