Puneet Varma (Editor)

Mycobacterium intracellulare

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Kingdom
  
Bacteria

Order
  
Actinomycetales

Family
  
Mycobacteriaceae

Rank
  
Species

Phylum
  
Actinobacteria

Suborder
  
Corynebacterineae

Genus
  
Mycobacterium

Scientific name
  
Mycobacterium intracellulare

Similar
  
Mycobacterium kansasii, Mycobacterium scrofulaceum, Mycobacterium fortuitum, Mycobacterium gordonae, Mycobacterium chelonae

Mycobacterium intracellulare is a species of the phylum actinobacteria (Gram-positive bacteria with high guanine and cytosine content, one of the dominant phyla of all bacteria), belonging to the genus Mycobacterium.

Contents

Description

"Gram-positive", nonmotile and acid-fast short to long rods.

Colony characteristics

  • Usually smooth, rarely rough and nonpigmented colonies. Ageing colonies may become yellow.

    • Physiology

  • Growth on Löwenstein-Jensen medium and Middlebrook 7H10 at 37°C after 7 or more days.
  • Resistant to isoniazid, ethambutol, rifampin and streptomycin.

    • Differential characteristics

  • M. intracellulare and Mycobacterium avium form the M. avium complex (MAC).
  • Remarkable ITS heterogeneity within different M. intracellulare isolates.

    • Pathogenesis

  • Most frequently encountered in pulmonary secretions from patients suffering from tuberculosis-like disease and from surgical specimens from such patients.
  • When isolated from human secretions, it is often the etiologic agent of pulmonary disease, although frequently isolated as apparent casual resident
  • Biosafety level 2

    • Type strain

  • First isolated from fatal systemic disease in a child. Found in soil and water.

    • Strain ATCC 13950 = CCUG 28005 = CIP 104243 = DSM 43223 = JCM 6384 = NCTC 13025.

    References

    Mycobacterium intracellulare Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA