Mycobacterium cookii sp. nov.

Abstract

Strains of a new type of slowly growing scotochromogenic mycobacterium were isolated repeatedly from sphagnum vegetation and surface water of moors in New Zealand. These strains grew at 31 and 22°C but not at 37°C and possessed catalase, acid phosphatase, and arylsulfatase activities. They did not split amides, and most of them were susceptible to antituberculotic drugs. Furthermore, they did not tolerate 0.1% NaOH, and 0.2% picric acid and did not grow on compounds used as single carbon sources and single nitrogen and carbon sources. The internal similarity of the strains as determined by numerical taxonomy methods was 96.6% & 3.09%. The whole-mycolate pattern is unique in that it has not been found previously in 23 species of slowly growing mycobacteria. Evaluation of long-reverse-transcriptase-generated stretches of the primary structure of the 16s rRNA confirmed that these organisms belong to the genus Mycobacterium. The phylogenetic position of these bacteria is unique; they are situated between slowly growing pathogenic and rapidly growing saprophytic species. The strains are not pathogenic for mice, guinea pigs, and rabbits, but they provoke a nonspecific hypersensitivity reaction to bovine tuberculin. Hence, they are considered members of a new species of nonpathogenic, slowly growing mycobacteria, for which the name Mycobacterium cookii is proposed. Strain NZ2 is the type strain; a culture of this strain has been deposited in the American Type Culture Collection as strain ATCC 49103. During 1984 and 1985, 17 strains belonging to the genus Mycobacterium and having homogeneous properties were isolated from sphagnum vegetation and pond water obtained from sites throughout the North and South Islands of New Zealand (4, 11). These strains were not pathogenic for experimental animals, they stimulated nonspecific hypersensitivity to bovine tuberculin in sensitized guinea pigs (ll), and they were regarded as a source of nonspecific tuberculin reactions in cattle in some regions of New Zealand (4). The properties of these strains indicate that they belong to a new species. In this paper we describe the results of a taxonomic study of these unusual strains. MATERIALS AND METHODSBacterial strains. The designations and sources of 17 previously undescribed strains of mycobacteria (referred to below as the NZ strains) are shown in Table 1.Methods. Colony morphology and the ability to grow at various temperatures (22, 31, 37, 42, and 45°C) were determined after 4 weeks of incubation on Lowenstein-Jensen slants and Middlebrook 7H10 agar inoculated with mg of cells per plate. Pigment production in the dark and photoactivity after 6 weeks of incubation were determined as previously described (8, 24). The following tests were also performed as described previously: nitrate reduction and catalase activity (2); Tween hydrolysis (14); acid phosphatase production (10); arylsulfatase activity after 3 and 10 days (12); production of acidamidase, benzamidase, urease, isonicotinamidase , nicotinamidase , p yrazinamidase , salicy...

Aerobic carbon-cycle related microbial communities in boreal peatlands: responses to water-level drawdown

“…Sequences similar to Rhodococcus seem to be important at Lakkasuo since they were found in both from peat and litter samples (II, V). Although 16S rRNA is a relatively conserved marker in Mycobacterium (Turenne et al 2001), Lakkasuo sequences (II) clustered with pathogenic species as well as groups that are considered purely saprotrophic, e.g., M. cookii from Sphagnum in New Zealand (Kazda et al 1990) and slow-growing strains of M. xenopi and M. botniense (Torkko et al 2000) and sequences from Suonukkasuo (IV) were similar to M. chlorophenolicum, known to mineralize pentachlorophenol (Briglia et al 1994, Häggblom et al 1994, Apajalahti et al 1986). Some members of Rhodococcus are well known for their metabolic versatility and capacity to degrade environmentally hazardous chemicals (Bell et al 1998, Häggblom et al 1988, van der Geize and Dijkhuizen 2004, Larkin et al 2005.…”

“…reference) 1st year LTD ME Russula ECM LTD OM Meliniomyces, Phialocephala, Cladophialophora ERM, saprotrophs of many polymers (Currah & Tsuneda 1993, Piercey et al 2002, Davey & Currah 2007) 2nd year OM mitosporic Herpotrichiellaceae saprotrophs of litters, wood and soil (Domsch et al 1980) LTD ME zygomycete, Phlebia soil saprotrops, white-rot fungi capable of lignin decaying (Hatakka 1994) Actinobacteria 1st year ME Frankia free-living saprotrophs, nitrogen-fixers (Arveby & Huss-Daniel 1988, Smolander et al 1988, Nickel 2000) OM Rhodococcus saprotrophs of many compounds (Bell et al 1998, Häggblom et al 1988, van der Geize and Dijkhuizen 2004, Larkin et al 2005) LTD ME Mycobacterium saprotroph, pathogen (Kazda et al 1990, Torkko et al 2000, Tortoli 2003) 2nd year ME ambiguous unknown OM ambiguous unknown Table 6. Taxonomic affiliation of the sequences, and their putative ecological role in different sites or plots during the two-year decomposition period.…”

Impact of Genotypic Studies on Mycobacterial Taxonomy: the New Mycobacteria of the 1990s

“…Although considered intermediate between rapid and slow growers on the basis of the partial 16S rDNA sequence (73), M. cookii is characterized by a long helix 18, made even longer by a 2-nucleotide insertion, and unquestionably clusters with slow growers (Fig. 2 and 3).…”

“…Seventeen environmental strains from sphagnum and water in New Zealand represent the organisms used for the description of the new species M. cookii in 1990 (73).…”

A longitudinal study of environmental mycobacteria on a farm in south-west England

“…They may directly cause disease in susceptible humans (Goslee and Wolinsky 1976 ;Grange 1987 ;Kirscher et al 1992 ;Wolinsky 1992) and animals (Thoen et al 1981). Some species are known to induce a non-specific hypersensitivity reaction to bovine tuberculin (Jorgensen 1981 ; Kazda et al 1990Kazda et al , 1993. This may be partially responsible for the high proportion of new herd breakdowns identified in cattle tuberculosis control measures, where up to 60% of slaughtered animals have no visible lesions and are negative on culture (Wilesmith et al 1982).…”