Mycobacterium parakoreense sp. nov., a slowly growing non-chromogenic species related to Mycobacterium koreense , isolated from a human clinical specimen

Abstract

A previously undescribed, slowly growing, non-chromogenic Mycobacterium strain (299T) was isolated from the sputum sample of a patient with a symptomatic pulmonary infection. Phenotypically, strain 299T was generally similar to Mycobacterium koreense DSM 45576T and Mycobacterium triviale ATCC 23292T. The 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain 299T was similar to that of M. koreense DSM 45576T (GenBank accession no. AY734996, 99.5 % similarity); however, it differed substantially from that of M. triviale ATCC 23292T (X88924, 98.2 %). Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain 299T clustered together with M. koreense DSM 45576T and M. triviale ATCC 23292T, supported by high bootstrapping values (99 %). Unique mycolic acid profiles and phylogenetic analysis based on two different chronometer molecules, the hsp65 and rpoB genes, strongly supported the taxonomic status of this strain as representing a distinct species. These data support the conclusion that strain 299T represents a novel mycobacterial species, for which the name Mycobacterium parakoreense sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is 299T ( = DSM 45575T = KCTC 19818T).