MYCOBACTERIUM MAGERITENSE SP-NOV

Strains of a new species of rapidly growing, nonphotochromogenic mycob acteria, Mycobacterium mageritense, were isolated from human sputum, T he growth characteristics, acid fastness, and mycolic acids of the iso lates were consistent with those of Mycobacterium species, The isolate s were identified as members of a new species by performing a biochemi cal analysis and DNA-DNA hybridization experiments, and by comparing t he sequences of several conserved genes, such as the 16S rRNA, hsp65, and sodA genes, A phylogenetic analysis in which 16S rRNA and sodA seq uences were used identified M. mageritense as a novel distinct species and placed M. mageritense between members of the Mycobacterium fortui tum complex and the thermotolerant rapidly growing group, Our results demonstrate that the taxonomic value of sodA sequence analysis in the genus Mycobacterium is similar to the well-established value of 16S rR NA sequence analysis.