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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, August 1999, p. 2592-2597, Vol. 37, No. 8
Departamento de Microbiologia,
Received 22 February 1999/Returned for modification 8 April
1999/Accepted 27 April 1999
Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) is composed of
environmental mycobacteria found widely in soil, water, and aerosols
that can cause disease in animals and humans, especially disseminated infections in AIDS patients. MAC consists of two closely related species, M. avium and M. intracellulare, and
may also include other, less-defined groups. The precise
differentiation of MAC species is a fundamental step in epidemiological
studies and for the evaluation of possible reservoirs for MAC infection
in humans and animals. In this study, which included 111 pig and 26 clinical MAC isolates, two novel allelic M. avium
PCR-restriction enzyme analysis (PRA) variants were identified,
differing from the M. avium PRA prototype in the
HaeIII digestion pattern. Mutations in HaeIII
sites were confirmed by DNA sequencing. Identification of these
isolates as M. avium was confirmed by PCR with DT1-DT6 and
IS1245 primers, nucleic acid hybridization with the
AccuProbe system, 16S ribosomal DNA sequencing, and biochemical tests.
The characterization of M. avium PRA variants can be useful
in the elucidation of factors involved in mycobacterial virulence and routes of infection and also has diagnostic significance, since they
can be misidentified as M. simiae II and M. kansasii I if the PRA method is used in the clinical laboratory
for identification of mycobacteria.
0095-1137/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Identification of Two Novel Mycobacterium
avium Allelic Variants in Pig and Human Isolates from
Brazil by PCR-Restriction Enzyme Analysis
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Universidade
Federal de São Paulo-Escola Paulista de Medicina, Disciplina de
Microbiologia, Rua Botucatu, 862 3 andar, 04023-062 São Paulo,
Brazil. Phone: (55-11) 5084-3213. Fax: (55-11) 571-6504. E-mail:
scleao.dmip{at}epm.br.
Journal of Clinical Microbiology, August 1999, p. 2592-2597, Vol. 37, No. 8
0095-1137/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
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