Mycobacterium botniense
Mycobacterium botniense is a slowly growing Mycobacterium, which produces a yellow pigment. It was first isolated from a stream of water. M. botniense is most closely related to Mycobacterium xenopi. Etymology: botniense; of Botnia, referring to the Latin name of the province of Finland from which the isolation was made.
Description
Microscopy- Gram-positive, nonmotile and acid-fast rods.
- Colonies on Löwenstein-Jensen media and on Middlebrook 7H11 agar are small, dysgonic and scotochromogenic, and produce yellow pigment.
- Visible growth from diluted inocula requires 5 to 8 weeks. Growth occurs at 37 to 50 °C.
- The type strain is positive for 10-d arylsulfatase and pyrazinamidase.
- Negative for 3-d arylsulfatase, urease, nitrate reductase, semi-quantitative catalase, heat-stable catalase, acid phosphatase, b-galactosidase and 5% NaCl tolerance.
- Tween 80 is not hydrolysed in 10 d.
- A phylogenetic tree based on the evaluation of 16S rDNA sequences places M. botniense among the slow-growing mycobacteria, closest to M. xenopi.
Pathogenesis
- Not known, but first isolated from an environmental source.