Mycobacterium abscessus

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Mycobacterium abscessus

Kingdom:	Bacteria
Phylum:	Actinobacteria
Order:	Actinomycetales
Suborder:	Corynebacterineae
Family:	Mycobacteriaceae
Genus:	Mycobacterium
Species:	M. abscessus

Binomial name

Mycobacterium abscessus
Kusonoki and Ezaki 1992 ATCC 19977

Mycobacterium abscessus is a rapidly growing mycobacterium that is a common water contaminant. It was until recently (1992) thought to be a subspecies of Mycobacterium chelonae. M. abcessus can cause chronic lung disease, post-traumatic wound infections, and disseminated cutaneous diseases, mostly in patients with suppressed immune systems.

1 Description
2 Pathogenesis
3 Type Strain
4 References

[edit] Description

Microscopy

Gram-positive, nonmotile and acid-fast rods (1.0-2.5µm x 0.5µm).

Colony characteristics

Colonies on Löwenstein-Jensen media may occur as smooth as well as rough, white or greyish and nonphotochromogenic.

Physiology

Growth at 28°C and 37°C after 7 days but not at 43°C.
On MacConkey agar at 28°C and even 37°C.
Tolerance to 5% NaCl and 500mg/l hydroxylamine (Ogawa egg medium) and 0.2% picrate (Sauton agar medium).
Positive degradation of p-aminosalicylate.
Production of arylsulfatase but not of nitrate reductase and Tween 80 hydrolase.
Negative iron uptake test. No utilisation of fructose, glucose, oxalate and citrate as sole carbon sources.

Differential characteristics

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, However, both species can be differentiated by their hsp65 or ITS sequences

[edit] Pathogenesis

Chronic lung disease, post-traumatic wound infections, post-tympanostomy tube otitis media, disseminated cutaneous diseases in patients of immune suppression.

[edit] Type Strain

ATCC 19977 = CCUG 20993 = CIP 104536 = DSM 44196 = JCM 13569 = NCTC 13031

[edit] References

Kusunoki,S.,T. Ezaki. 1992. Proposal of Mycobacterium peregrinum sp. nov., nom. rev., and elevation of Mycobacterium chelonae subsp. abscessus (Kubica et al.) to species status: Mycobacterium abscessus comb. nov. Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. 42, 240-245.