Mycobacterium tuberculosis

This article is about the bacterium. For the infection, see Tuberculosis.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis
M. tuberculosis colonies
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Bacteria
Phylum: Actinomycetota
Class: Actinomycetia
Order: Mycobacteriales
Family: Mycobacteriaceae
Genus: Mycobacterium
Species:
M. tuberculosis
Binomial name
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Zopf 1883
Synonyms

Tubercle bacillus Koch 1882

M. tuberculosis in the lungs, showing large cavities the bacteria have dissolved

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb), also known as Koch's bacillus, is a species of pathogenic bacteria in the family Mycobacteriaceae and the causative agent of tuberculosis.[1][2] First discovered in 1882 by Robert Koch, M. tuberculosis has an unusual, waxy coating on its cell surface primarily due to the presence of mycolic acid. This coating makes the cells impervious to Gram staining, and as a result, M. tuberculosis can appear weakly Gram-positive.[3] Acid-fast stains such as Ziehl–Neelsen, or fluorescent stains such as auramine are used instead to identify M. tuberculosis with a microscope. The physiology of M. tuberculosis is highly aerobic and requires high levels of oxygen. Primarily a pathogen of the mammalian respiratory system, it infects the lungs. The most frequently used diagnostic methods for tuberculosis are the tuberculin skin test, acid-fast stain, culture, and polymerase chain reaction.[2][4]

The M. tuberculosis genome was sequenced in 1998.[5][6]

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  2. ^ a b Ryan KJ, Ray CG (2004). "Mycobacteria". Sherris Medical Microbiology : an Introduction to Infectious Diseases (4th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. p. 439. ISBN 978-0-83-858529-0.
  3. ^ Fu LM, Fu-Liu CS (1 January 2002). "Is Mycobacterium tuberculosis a closer relative to Gram-positive or Gram-negative bacterial pathogens?". Tuberculosis. 82 (2–3): 85–90. doi:10.1054/tube.2002.0328. PMID 12356459.
  4. ^ Cudahy P, Shenoi SV (April 2016). "Diagnostics for pulmonary tuberculosis". Postgraduate Medical Journal. 92 (1086): 187–193. doi:10.1136/postgradmedj-2015-133278. PMC 4854647. PMID 27005271.
  5. ^ Cole ST, Brosch R, Parkhill J, Garnier T, Churcher C, Harris D, et al. (June 1998). "Deciphering the biology of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from the complete genome sequence". Nature. 393 (6685): 537–44. Bibcode:1998Natur.393..537C. doi:10.1038/31159. PMID 9634230.
  6. ^ Camus JC, Pryor MJ, Médigue C, Cole ST (October 2002). "Re-annotation of the genome sequence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv". Microbiology. 148 (Pt 10): 2967–73. doi:10.1099/00221287-148-10-2967. PMID 12368430.