Mycobacterium gordonae

Mycobacterium gordonae

Description
Gram-positive, nonmotile and moderate to long acid-fast rods.
 * Commonly found in tap water and soil. Casual resident in human sputum and gastric lavage specimens.

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

Physiology
 * Growth on Löwenstein-Jensen medium and Middlebrook 7H10 agar within 7 or more days at 37°C (optimal 25°C).
 * Does not grow in the presence of ethambutol (1mg/l), isoniazid (10mg/l) and sodium chloride (5%).

Differential characteristics
 * A commercial hybridisation assay (AccuProbe) to identify M. gordonae exists.
 * Intraspecies variability in 16S rDNA sequences

Pathogenesis

 * Rarely if ever implicated in disease processes unless patients are immunocompromised.
 * Biosafety level 1

Type Strain
Strain ATCC 14470 = CCUG 21801 = CCUG 21811 = CIP 104529 = DSM 44160 = JCM 6382 = NCTC 10267.