Mycobacterium abscessus
| Mycobacterium abscessus | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Bacteria |
| Phylum: | Actinobacteria |
| Order: | Actinomycetales |
| Suborder: | Corynebacterineae |
| Family: | Mycobacteriaceae |
| Genus: | Mycobacterium |
| Species: | M. abscessus |
| Binomial name | |
|
Mycobacterium abscessus Kusonoki and Ezaki 1992 |
|
Mycobacterium abscessus complex is a group of rapidly growing, multidrug-resistant non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) species that are common soil and water contaminants. Although M. abscessus complex most commonly cause chronic lung infection and skin and soft tissue infection (SSTI), the complex can also cause infection in almost all human organs, mostly in patients with suppressed immune systems. . Amongst NTM species responsible for disease, infection caused by M. abscesses complex are more difficult to treat due to antimicrobial drug resistance .
M. abscessus cells are gram-positive, nonmotile, acid-fast rods of about 1.0 - 2.5 µm long by 0.5 µm wide. They may form colonies on Löwenstein-Jensen media that appear smooth or rough, white or greyish and nonphotochromogenic.
M. abscessus shows growth at 28 °C and 37 °C after 7 days but not at 43 °C. It may grow on MacConkey agar at 28 °C and even 37 °C. It shows tolerance to saline media (5% NaCl) as well as 500 mg/l hydroxylamine (Ogawa egg medium) and 0.2% picrate (Sauton agar medium). Strains of the species have been shown to degrade the antibiotic p-aminosalicylate. M. abscessus has also been shown to produce arylsulfatase but not of nitrate reductase and Tween 80 hydrolase. It shows a negative result for the iron uptake test and no utilisation of fructose, glucose, oxalate or citrate as sole carbon sources.
M. abscessus and M. chelonae can be distinguished from M. fortuitum or M. peregrinum by their failure to reduce nitrate and to take up iron. Tolerance to 5% NaCl in Löwenstein-Jensen media, tolerance to 0.2% picrate in Sauton agar, and non-utilisation of citrate as a sole carbon source are characteristics that distinguish M. abscessus from M. chelonae. M. abscessus and M. chelonae sequevar I share an identical sequence in the 54-510 region of 16S rRNA, though both species can be differentiated by their hsp65, ITS or rpoB gene sequences.
...
Wikipedia