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“Hypothetical Mean Organisms” of Mycobacteria
Author(s) -
Tsukamura Michio,
Mizuno Shoji
Publication year - 1968
Publication title -
japanese journal of microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.664
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1348-0421
pISSN - 0021-5139
DOI - 10.1111/j.1348-0421.1968.tb00410.x
Subject(s) - subgenus , biology , genus , mycobacterium , microbiology and biotechnology , tuberculosis , dendrogram , veterinary medicine , zoology , bacteria , medicine , pathology , genetics , population , environmental health , genetic diversity
Seven hundred fifty‐four strains of mycobacteria were examined using 97 characters, and a “Hypothetical Mean Organism” (HMO) was prepared for each species using numerical classification. The species could be defined as a group of strains showing a mean S‐value of 90% or more to a HMO and showing mean S‐values of 89% or less to other HMOs. The following species were recognized: (1) M. tuberculosis , combining M. tuberculosis and M. bovis into one species; (2) M. kansasii ; (3) M. novum ; (4) M. avium , combining M. avium, M. nonchromogenicum, M. gastri, M. intracellulare and M. scrofulaceum into one species; (5) M. marinum ; (6) M. thermoresistibile ; (7) M. chitae ; (8) M. borstelense ; (9) M. abscessus ; (10) M. fortuitum ; (11) M. phlei ; (12) M. aurum ; (13) M. parafortuitum ; (14) M. lacticola ; (15) M. smegmatis . Dendrogram of the species showed two main stems, indicating that the genus Mycobacterium be divided into two subgenera, subgenus Mycobacterium (from M. tuberculosis to M. chitae ) and subgenus My cornycobacterium (from M. borstelense to M. smegmatis ). Some discrepancy was noted between the results of numerical classification using HMOs and that of the “proper” numerical classification, and this discrepancy is discussed.