Cholesterol is accumulated by mycobacteria but its degradation is limited to non-pathogenic fast-growing mycobacteria.
In this report we show that fast-growing non-pathogenic mycobacteria degrade cholesterol from liquid media, and are able to grow on cholesterol as a sole carbon source. In contrast, slow-growing mycobacteria, including pathogenic Mycobacterium tuberculosis and bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), do not degrade and use cholesterol as a carbon source. Nevertheless, pathogenic mycobacteria are able to uptake, modify, and accumulate cholesterol from liquid growth media, and form a zone of clearance around a colony when plated on solid media containing cholesterol. These data suggest that cholesterol may have a role in mycobacterial infection other than its use as carbon source.
Av-Gay
Y
Y
Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Canada. yossi@interchange.ubc.ca
Sobouti
R
R
D002784:Cholesterol / Q000378:metabolism*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D002855:Chromatography, Thin Layer; D003470:Culture Media; D006801:Humans; D009161:Mycobacterium / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D009170:Nontuberculous Mycobacteria / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000472:pathogenicity
D003470:Culture Media; D002784:Cholesterol