Mycobacterium gordonae
Mycobacterium gordonae is a species of Mycobacterium named for Ruth E. Gordon. It is a species of the phylum Actinomycetota, belonging to the genus Mycobacterium.
Description
Gram-positive, nonmotile and moderate to long acid-fast rods.- Commonly found in tap water and soil. Casual resident in human sputum and gastric lavage specimens.
- Smooth, with yellow or orange scotochromogenic colonies. Even though they are scotochromogenic pigment is intensified by growing in continuous light.
- Growth on Löwenstein-Jensen medium and Middlebrook 7H10 agar within 7 or more days at 37 °C.
- Does not grow in the presence of ethambutol, isoniazid and sodium chloride.
- Some strains can grow using carbon monoxide as a carbon and energy source.
- A commercial hybridisation assay to identify M. gordonae exists.
- Intraspecies variability in 16S rDNA sequences
Pathogenesis
- Rarely if ever implicated in disease processes even if patients are immunocompromised. Widely distributed in environment and usually a contaminant in laboratory specimens.
- Biosafety level 2