Mycobacterium phlei
Mycobacterium phlei is a species of acid-fast bacteria in the genus Mycobacterium.[1] It is characterized as one of the fast-growing mycobacteria. M. phlei has only occasionally been isolated in human infections, and patients infected with M. phlei generally respond well to anti-mycobacterial therapy. M. phlei has an unusually high GC-content of 73%.
| Mycobacterium phlei | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Bacteria |
| Phylum: | Actinomycetota |
| Class: | Actinomycetia |
| Order: | Mycobacteriales |
| Family: | Mycobacteriaceae |
| Genus: | Mycobacterium |
| Species: | M. phlei |
| Binomial name | |
| Mycobacterium phlei Lehmann & Neumann 1899 | |
Description
M. phlei is a rod-shaped bacterium 1.0 to 2.0 micrometers in length.[2] If grown on an agar plate, M. phlei colonies appear orange to yellow in color, and predominantly dense with smooth edges, although some smaller filamentous colonies have also been described.[2] Like other mycobacteria, M. phlei retains the acid-fast stain. M. phlei can grow at temperatures ranging from 28 °C to 52 °C.[2]
History
M. phlei was first identified as the "Timothy Bacillus" or "Grass Bacillus I" by the German microbiologist Alfred Moëller in 1898.[2] The following year, the bacterium was given its current name by Karl Bernhard Lehmann and Rudolf Otto Neumann.[2]
This bacterium was extensively studied by Brodie and collaborators,[3] in connection with the metabolism and role of vitamin K2.
References
- Vance, DE; Mitsuhashi, O; Bloch, K (April 1973). "Purification and properties of the fatty acid synthetase from Mycobacterium phlei". J. Biol. Chem. 248 (7): 2303–9. doi:10.1016/S0021-9258(19)44110-0. PMID 4698221.
- Gordon RE, Smith MM (1953). "Rapdily Growing, Acid Fast Bacteria I". Journal of Bacteriology. 66 (1): 41–8. doi:10.1128/JB.66.1.41-48.1953. PMC 357089. PMID 13069464.
- "Arnold Frank Brodie - Publications".