title: Mycobacterium noviomagense sp. nov.; clinical relevance evaluated in 17 patients.
abstract: Eighteen isolates of a nonchromogenic, slowly growing, non-tuberculous species of the genus Mycobacterium were cultured from respiratory specimens obtained over the last eight years from 17 patients in the Netherlands. These isolates were grouped because they revealed a unique 16S rRNA gene sequence and were related to Mycobacterium xenopi. None of the 17 patients met the American Thoracic Society diagnostic criteria for non-tuberculous mycobacterial disease, which distinguishes the novel isolates from the related species, M. xenopi. A polyphasic taxonomic approach, including identification by biochemical and phenotypical analysis, hsp65 gene sequencing and PCR restriction enzyme pattern analysis, and sequence analyses of the rpoB gene and 16S-23S internal transcribed spacer supported the separate species status of the novel isolates. The name Mycobacterium noviomagense sp. nov. is proposed for the novel strains. The type strain is NLA000500338(T) (=DSM 45145(T)=CIP 109766(T)). A more distinctive taxonomy of NTM is a prerequisite for the assessment of their clinical relevance.
authors.affiliation: Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center, Department of Pulmonary Diseases, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. jakko.van.ingen@rivm.nl
authors.forename: Jakko
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: van Ingen
authors.forename: Martin J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Boeree
authors.forename: Wiel C M
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: de Lange
authors.forename: Petra E W
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: de Haas
authors.forename: Adri G M
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: van der Zanden
authors.forename: Wouter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Mijs
authors.forename: Leen
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rigouts
authors.forename: P N Richard
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Dekhuijzen
authors.forename: Dick
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: van Soolingen