Mycobacterium europaeum sp. nov., a scotochromogenic species related to the Mycobacterium simiae complex

Abstract

Mycobacterium europaeum sp. nov., a scotochromogenic species related to the Mycobacterium simiae complex Four strains isolated in the last 15 years were revealed to be identical in their 16S rRNA gene sequences to MCRO19, the sequence of which was deposited in GenBank in 1995. In a polyphasic analysis including phenotypic and genotypic features, the five strains (including MCRO19), which had been isolated in four European countries, turned out to represent a unique taxonomic entity. They are scotochromogenic slow growers and are genetically related to the group that included Mycobacterium simiae and 15 other species. The novel species Mycobacterium europaeum sp. nov. is proposed to accommodate these five strains. Strain FI-95228 T (5DSM 45397 T 5CCUG 58464 T ) was chosen as the type strain. In addition, a thorough revision of the phenotypic and genotypic characters of the species related to M. simiae was conducted which leads us to suggest the denomination of the 'Mycobacterium simiae complex' for this group.A unique genetic signature characterizes a limited number of slowly growing non-tuberculous mycobacteria; it is represented by a 12 nt deletion in the 16S rRNA gene starting at Escherichia coli position 459. About 20 years ago, when genetic sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene began to be used for the taxonomic characterization of mycobacteria, Mycobacterium simiae appeared to be the only slowly growing mycobacterial species presenting the aforesaid deletion (Rogall et al., 1990; Kirschner et al., 1993b). Mycobacterium interjectum (Springer et al., 1993) was the first species to be newly described that was recognized to share this genetic marker with M. simiae and, in subsequent years, the group of M. simiae-like organisms has steadily extended and includes 16 species at present (Böttger et al., 1993;Fanti et al., 2004;Floyd et al., 1996Floyd et al., , 2000Haas et al., 1997;Karassova et al., 1965;Levi et al., 2003;Meier et al., 1993; Pourahmad et al., 2008;Selvarangan et al., 2004;Springer et al., 1993Springer et al., , 1996b

Pulmonary Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Infections in the State of Para, an Endemic Region for Tuberculosis in North of Brazil

“…In fact, roughly 20% (n=16) of the pulmonary infections were caused by members of the M. simiae complex and among these, 14 belonged to an unidentified taxon (n=14 (Tortoli, 2003(Tortoli, , 2006Tortoli et al, 2010). However, among these species, only M. simiae is recognized as a real cause of pulmonary infections, as reported in areas such as the Southwest of the United States, Israel and Cuba .…”

Mycobacterium alsense sp. nov., a scotochromogenic slow grower isolated from clinical respiratory specimens

“…Most of the trees (Figs S2-S9) were characterized by low to moderate robustness. In four of them (Figs S2, S3, S4 and S6) the proposed novel species appeared more closely related to a member of the Mycobacterium simiae complex (Tortoli et al, 2011). In the others (Figs S5, S7, S8 and S9) the branch including the test strains was clearly separate from other mycobacteria.…”

Report of Two Cases of Mycobacterium europaeum from Iran

“…The Iranian HIV-infected patient described here presented with pulmonary in-fection. Two of 4 M. europaeum strains (no information was available for the fifth) reported by Tortoli et al were also isolated from patients with respiratory tract diseases (1). Further studies are required to determine whether M. europaeum is responsible for infection in immunocompetent individuals, although it can be presumed that this colonizing organism has the potential to cause pulmonary infection.…”

“…based on 5 irrelevant clinical isolates from Europe (1). The present study describes 2 independent cases of M. europaeum infection diagnosed using phenotypic and molecular methods.…”

“…europaeum, a newly identified member of the M. simiae complex, was recently detected by polyphasic analyses of 5 independent strains from various European countries. It was described as an acid-fast, Grampositive, slow-growing, and yellow-pigmented species (1).…”