Mycobacterium gordonae

Description

• Commonly found in tap water and soil. Casual resident in human sputum and gastric lavage specimens.

• Smooth, with yellow or orange scotochromogenic colonies. Even though they are scotochromogenic pigment is intensified by growing in continuous light.

• Growth on Löwenstein-Jensen medium and Middlebrook 7H10 agar within 7 or more days at 37 °C.
• Does not grow in the presence of ethambutol, isoniazid and sodium chloride.
• Some strains can grow using carbon monoxide as a carbon and energy source.

• A commercial hybridisation assay to identify M. gordonae exists.
• Intraspecies variability in 16S rDNA sequences

  Pathogenesis

• Rarely if ever implicated in disease processes even if patients are immunocompromised. Widely distributed in environment and usually a contaminant in laboratory specimens.
• Biosafety level 2

  Type strain