Mycobacterium terrae

Mycobacterium terrae
Mycobacterium
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Bacteria
Phylum: Actinobacteria
Order: Actinomycetales
Suborder: Corynebacterineae
Family: Mycobacteriaceae
Genus: Mycobacterium
Species: M. terrae

Mycobacterium terrae is a slow-growing species of Mycobacterium.[1] It is an ungrouped member of the third Runyon (nonchromatogenic mycobacteria). It is known to cause serious skin infections, which are "relatively resistant to antibiotic therapy".[2]

Contents

Discovery

Richmond and Cummings were the first to isolate Mycobacterium terrae, which they described it as an "an acid‐fast saprophyte".[3] It is sometimes called the “radish bacillus", because it was isolated from radish water.

Pathology

This bacterium was originally injected into guinea pigs, and did not cause apparent illness, leading to the misconception that this strain was nonpathogenic. In reality, however, infection by this organism can cause disease of the joints, tendons, lungs, gastrointestinal tract, and genitourinary tract.[2] In humans, symptoms of infection include swelling, lesions, and inflammation, and may mimic the symptoms of osteoarthritis.[2]

Uses

This bacterium is used to study effectiveness of cleaning processes for reusable medical instruments.

References

  1. ^ PMID 17040222
  2. ^ a b c Smith, Scot; Pamela Lindholm‐Levy, Gwen A. Huitt, Leonid B. Heifets, James L. Cook (10 March 2000). "Mycobacterium terrae: Case Reports, Literature Review, and In Vitro Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing". Chicago Journals 30 (3). doi:10.1086/313693. http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/313693?cookieSet=1. Retrieved 12 September 2009. 
  3. ^ Richmond L, Cummings MM. An evaluation of methods of testing the virulence of acid‐fast bacilli. Am Rev Tuberc 1950;62:632–7.



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