title: Emended description of Mycobacterium abscessus, Mycobacterium abscessus subsp. abscessus and Mycobacteriumabscessus subsp. bolletii and designation of Mycobacteriumabscessus subsp. massiliense comb. nov.
abstract: The taxonomic position of members of the Mycobacterium abscessus complex has been the subject of intensive investigation and, in some aspects confusion, in recent years as a result of varying approaches to genetic data interpretation. Currently, the former species Mycobacterium massiliense and Mycobacterium bolletii are grouped together as Mycobacterium abscessus subsp. bolletii. They differ greatly, however, as the former M. bolletii has a functional erm(41) gene that confers inducible resistance to macrolides, the primary therapeutic antimicrobials for M. abscessus, while in the former M. massiliense the erm(41) gene is non-functional. Furthermore, previous whole genome studies of the M. abscessus group support the separation of M. bolletii and M. massiliense. To shed further light on the population structure of Mycobacterium abscessus, 43 strains and three genomes retrieved from GenBank were subjected to pairwise comparisons using three computational approaches: verage ucleotide dentity, enome to enome istance and single nucleotide polymorphism analysis. The three methods produced overlapping results, each demonstrating three clusters of strains corresponding to the same number of taxonomic entities. The distances were insufficient to warrant distinction at the species level, but met the criteria for differentiation at the subspecies level. Based on prior erm(41)-related phenotypic data and current genomic data, we conclude that the species M. abscessus encompasses, in adjunct to the presently recognized subspecies M. abscessus subsp. abscessus and M. abscessus subsp. bolletii, a third subspecies for which we suggest the name M. abscessus subsp. massiliense comb. nov. (type strain CCUG 48898T=CIP 108297T=DSM 45103T=KCTC 19086T).
authors: Emerging Bacterial Pathogens Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.
authors: Enrico
authors: E
authors: Tortoli
authors: Molecular and Experimental Mycobacteriology, Forschungszentrum Borstel, Leibniz-Zentrum für Medizin und Biowissenschaften, Borstel, Germany.
authors: Thomas A
authors: TA
authors: Kohl
authors: Mycobacteria/Nocardia Research Laboratory, Department of Microbiology, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler, Tyler, TX, USA.
authors: Barbara A
authors: BA
authors: Brown-Elliott
authors: Emerging Bacterial Pathogens Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.
authors: Alberto
authors: A
authors: Trovato
authors: Departamento de Microbiologia, Imunologia e Parasitologia, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors: Sylvia Cardoso
authors: SC
authors: Leão
authors: Department of Preventive Medicine, Public Health and Microbiology, Autonoma University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
authors: Maria Jesus
authors: MJ
authors: Garcia
authors: Mycobacteria/Nocardia Research Laboratory, Department of Microbiology, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler, Tyler, TX, USA.
authors: Sruthi
authors: S
authors: Vasireddy
authors: Diagnostic Services Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
authors: Christine Y
authors: CY
authors: Turenne
authors: Department of Pulmonary Medicine, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler, Tyler, TX, USA.
authors: David E
authors: DE
authors: Griffith
authors: Department of Pulmonary Medicine, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler, Tyler, TX, USA.
authors: Julie V
authors: JV
authors: Philley
authors: Emerging Bacterial Pathogens Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.
authors: Rossella
authors: R
authors: Baldan
authors: Regional Reference Center for Cystic Fibrosis, Meyer University Hospital, Florence, Italy.
authors: Silvia
authors: S
authors: Campana
authors: Cystic Fibrosis Microbiology Laboratory, IRCCS Ca' Granda, Milan, Italy.
authors: Lisa
authors: L
authors: Cariani
authors: Cystic Fibrosis Center, IRCSS Ca' Granda, Milan, Italy.
authors: Carla
authors: C
authors: Colombo
authors: Regional Reference Center for Cystic Fibrosis, Meyer University Hospital, Florence, Italy.
authors: Giovanni
authors: G
authors: Taccetti
authors: Cystic Fibrosis Microbiology Laboratory, IRCCS Ca' Granda, Milan, Italy.
authors: Antonio
authors: A
authors: Teri
authors: Molecular and Experimental Mycobacteriology, Forschungszentrum Borstel, Leibniz-Zentrum für Medizin und Biowissenschaften, Borstel, Germany.
authors: Stefan
authors: S
authors: Niemann
authors: Mycobacteria/Nocardia Research Laboratory, Department of Microbiology, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler, Tyler, TX, USA.
authors: Richard J
authors: RJ
authors: Wallace
authors: Emerging Bacterial Pathogens Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.
authors: Daniela M
authors: DM
authors: Cirillo
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D009161:Mycobacterium / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial