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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, January 2001, p. 207-211, Vol. 39, No. 1
Laboratory of Environmental Microbiology,
National Public Health Institute,1
Department of Dermatology, Kuopio University
Hospital,6 and Department of Clinical
Microbiology, Kuopio University Hospital,7
Kuopio, and Institute of Biotechnology, University of
Helsinki,2 and Department of Pathology
and Field Research, National Veterinary and Food Research
Institute,3 Helsinki, Finland;
Bacteriological and Virological Laboratory, Careggi
Hospital, Florence, Italy4; and
Laboratoire de Référence des Mycobactéries,
Institut Pasteur, Paris, France5
Received 24 July 2000/Returned for modification 23 August
2000/Accepted 12 October 2000
Chemotaxonomic and genetic properties were determined for
14 mycobacterial isolates identified as members of a newly described species Mycobacterium bohemicum. The isolates recovered
from clinical, veterinary, and environmental sources were compared for
lipid composition, biochemical test results, and sequencing of the 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) and the 16S-23S rDNA internal transcribed spacer
(ITS) regions. The isolates had a lipid composition that was
different from those of other known species. Though the isolates formed
a distinct entity, some variations were detected in the features
analyzed. Combined results of the phenotypic and genotypic analyses
were used to group the isolates into three clusters. The major cluster
(cluster A), very homogenous in all respects, comprised the M. bohemicum type strain, nine clinical and veterinary isolates, and
two of the five environmental isolates. Three other environmental
isolates displayed an insertion of 14 nucleotides in the ITS
region; they also differed from cluster A in fatty alcohol composition
and produced a positive result in the Tween 80 hydrolysis test. Among
these three, two isolates were identical (cluster B), but one isolate
(cluster C) had a unique high-performance liquid chromatography
profile, and its gas liquid chromatography profile lacked
2-octadecanol, which was present in all other isolates analyzed. Thus,
sequence variation in the 16S-23S ITS region was associated with
interesting variations in lipid composition. Two of the isolates
analyzed were regarded as potential inducers of human or veterinary
infections. Each of the environmental isolates, all of which were
unrelated to the cases presented, was cultured from the water of a
different stream. Hence, natural waters are potential reservoirs of
M. bohemicum.
0095-1137/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JCM.39.1.207-211.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Characterization of Mycobacterium
bohemicum Isolated from Human, Veterinary, and Environmental
Sources
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Lab.
Environmental Microbiology, National Public Health Institute, P. O. Box 95, FIN-70701 Kuopio, Finland. Phone: 358-17-201375. Fax:
358-17-201155. E-mail: Pirjo.Torkko{at}ktl.fi.
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