DETERMINATION OF MYCOBACTERIAL PHYLOGENY ON THE BASIS OF IMMUNOLOGICAL RELATEDNESS OF SUPEROXIDE DISMUTASES

Sixteen strains of cultivable mycobacteria were grown in Sauton's medi um, and Mycobacterium leprae was purified from armadillo liver. Cell e xtracts were prepared from log-phase growths of each of the cultivable mycobacterial strains, Superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzyme was purified from all cultivable mycobacterial strains included in the study, and antibodies against purified SOD enzyme were raised in rabbits, Immunol ogical distances (ImDs) between these anti-SOD antibodies and SOD anti gens were determined by a previously described immunoprecipitation met hod and by a recently developed enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELI SA) technique. The reciprocal ImDs among mycobacterial strains were co nstant, reproducible and consistent by these two methods. An evolution ary tree was constructed on the basis of estimated ImDs, Except for M. duvalii and M. terrae, slowly and rapidly growing mycobacterial speci es appeared to be separately grouped bg:this analysis. Rapid growers c lustered into a group which is near that of some slow-growing mycobact eria. M. avium falls almost in the middle of the evolutionary tree and the position of M. leprae was found to be between those of M. avium a nd BZ bovis BCG, Measurement of immunological relatedness of SODs prov ides an alternative system with which to study the taxonomical related ness among mycobacteria.