title: Isolation and characterization of phenotypes of mycobacteria.
abstract: Several strains of mycobacteria grown as surface pellicle on liquid Sauton's medium under semianaerobic conditions dissociated into three phenotypes: phenotypes 1, 2, and 3. Only phenotype 1 could be obtained in a pure state. None of these phenotypes was found to be stable: they convert from one into another and all revert to the parental strain when replaced in their usual aerobic cultural conditions. Comparative studies of phenotypes 1 and 3 have shown that significant differences exist in their physiological behaviour and antigenic composition.
mesh_terms: D000939:Epitopes; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D009161:Mycobacterium / Q000254:growth & development / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010641:Phenotype
chemical_list: D000939:Epitopes