title: A new agent of mycobacterial lymphadenitis in children: Mycobacterium heidelbergense sp. nov.
abstract: Nontuberculous mycobacterial lymphadenitis presents an increasing clinical problem in immunocompetent young children. A slowly growing, nonphotochromogenic mycobacterium was recovered twice (isolates 2553/91 and 2554/91) from the lymphatic tissue of a child with recurrent cervical lymphadenitis. It could be differentiated biochemically from described Mycobacterium species, although it most closely resembled Mycobacterium malmoense by thin-layer chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography of mycolic acids. A striking characteristic of the isolate was its high degree of susceptibility to antituberculous drugs in vitro, including isoniazid. Direct determination of the 16S rRNA gene sequence revealed a unique sequence and positioned the strain phylogenetically on a branch separate from M. malmoense within a group of slowly growing mycobacteria that show a high degree of similarity to M. simiae at the 16S rRNA gene level. Despite 99.6% sequence identity with M. simiae at the 16S rRNA gene level, DNA-DNA hybridization studies (hydroxyapatite method) demonstrated DNA relatedness of less than 40%. We conclude that this organism is a new species for which we propose the name M. heidelbergense. A culture of the type strain, strain 2554/91, has been deposited in the American Type Culture Collection as strain ATCC 51253.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Pediatrics, Children's Hospital, Heidelberg University, Germany. ic1@ix.urz.uni-heidelberg.de
authors.forename: W H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Haas
authors.forename: W R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Butler
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kirschner
authors.forename: B B
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Plikaytis
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Coyle
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Amthor
authors.forename: A G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Steigerwalt
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Brenner
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Salfinger
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Crawford
authors.forename: E C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Böttger
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Bremer
mesh_terms: D000995:Antitubercular Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D001483:Base Sequence; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D007538:Isoniazid / Q000494:pharmacology; D008199:Lymphadenitis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009161:Mycobacterium / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D009164:Mycobacterium Infections / Q000209:etiology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D009333:Neck; D010802:Phylogeny; D012329:RNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D000995:Antitubercular Agents; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D012329:RNA, Bacterial; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D007538:Isoniazid