title: Mycobacterium canettii, the smooth variant of M. tuberculosis, isolated from a Swiss patient exposed in Africa.
abstract: An exceptionally smooth and glossy morphotype of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex was isolated from a 56-year-old Swiss patient with mesenteric tuberculosis. Direct 16S rRNA sequence analysis of the hypervariable signature gene regions revealed a 100% homology to the specific M. tuberculosis complex sequence. Spoligotyping and restriction fragment length polymorphism analyses using the insertion sequences IS6110 and IS1081 and the polymorphic GC-rich sequence as additional genetic markers identified the isolate as the novel taxon M. canettii. Like a Somali child with a similar case, this patient probably contracted the infection in Africa, which raises questions about the geographic distribution of M. canettii.
authors.affiliation: Swiss National Center for Mycobacteria, Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Zurich, Switzerland. pfyffer@immv.unizh.ch
authors.forename: G E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Pfyffer
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Auckenthaler
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: van Embden
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: van Soolingen
mesh_terms: D014644:Genetic Variation; D006801:Humans; D007630:Kenya; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009161:Mycobacterium / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000235:genetics*; D013557:Switzerland; D014388:Tuberculosis, Lymph Node / Q000382:microbiology*; D014454:Uganda