''Mycobacterium elephantis'', a bacterium of the family

Mycobacteriaceae ''Mycobacteriaceae'' is a family of bacteria in the phylum Actinomycetota The ''Actinomycetota'' (or ''Actinobacteria'') are a phylum of all gram-positive bacteria. They can be terrestrial or aquatic. They are of great economic importance ...

, was discovered and isolated from a deceased elephant near India and may be linked to respiratory dysfunction.Shojaei, H., M. Goodfellow, J. G. Magee, N. U. Horadagoda, M. Yates, and R. Freeman. "Mycobacterium Elephantis Sp. Nov., a Rapidly Growing Non-chromogenic Mycobacterium Isolated from an Elephant." ''International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology'' 50.5 (2000): 1817-820. Web. 15 Feb. 2016. Organisms in the genus '' Mycobacterium'' are known to be

aerobic Aerobic means "requiring air," in which "air" usually means oxygen. Aerobic may also refer to * Aerobic exercise, prolonged exercise of moderate intensity * Aerobics, a form of aerobic exercise * Aerobic respiration, the aerobic process of cel ...

and non-

motile Motility is the ability of an organism to move independently, using metabolic energy. Definitions Motility, the ability of an organism to move independently, using metabolic energy, can be contrasted with sessility, the state of organisms th ...

.Pfyffer,G. E. (2007). Mycobacterium: General Characteristics, Laboratory Detection, and Staining Procedures. In P. R. Murray (Ed.), Manual of Clinical Microbiology (9th ed., pp. 543-572). Washington D.C.: ASM Press. Organisms within ''Mycobacterium'' belong to either the rapid growing group (Organismal growth under seven days) or the slow growing group.Turenne, C. "Phenotypic and Molecular Characterization of Clinical Isolates of Mycobacterium Elephantis from Human Specimens." ''Journal of Clinical Microbiology'' 40.4 (2002): 1231-236. Web. 15 Feb. 2016. ''M. elephantis'' is classified as a rapid grower and relates most closely to '' Mycobacterium confluentis'' and '' Mycobacterium phlei.''

Origin

Shojaei et al. discovered this bacterial species from a lung of a deceased elephant due to chronic respiratory disease in Sri Lanka, an island off the south end of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

in the year 2000. A strain of the organism, 484^t, was isolated on Lõwenstein-Jensen medium by these researchers. L-J medium
Columbia blood

MacConkey agar MacConkey agar is a selective and differential culture medium for bacteria. It is designed to selectively isolate Gram-negative and enteric (normally found in the intestinal tract) bacteria and differentiate them based on lactose fermentation. ...

Middlebrook 7H10 agar Middlebrook 7H10 Agar is a solid growth medium specially used for culture of ''Mycobacterium'', notably ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis''. It has been reported that the 7H10 medium tends to grow fewer contaminants than the egg-based media commonly use ...

, and 5% sodium chloride agar served as cultures for ''M. elephantis'' at varying temperatures for 3 to 10 days. No growth occurred on the 5% NaCl agar. This organism was found to be positive in a nitrate reduction test and negative in the aryl sulfatase test that were performed on this strain.

Biology and biochemistry

Ecology

''M. elephantis'' growth has been studied to find its preferred environmental factors. It is known to grow in the

bronchial A bronchus is a passage or airway in the lower respiratory tract that conducts air into the lungs. The first or primary bronchi pronounced (BRAN-KAI) to branch from the trachea at the carina are the right main bronchus and the left main bronchus. ...

area of mammals, which rests at a pH of 5.5.Heidarieh, P., H. Shojaei, A. Hashemi, M. M. Feizabadi, A. Daei-Naser, and B. Ataei. "First Report of Isolation of Mycobacterium Elephantis from Bronchial Lavage of a Patient in Asia." ''JRSM Short Reports'' 2.4 (2011): 26. Web. 15 Feb. 2016.Pingleton, Susan, Garth Harrison, Daniel Stechschulte, Lewis Wesselius, Gerald Kerby, and William Ruth. "Effect of Location, PH, and Temperature of Instillate in Bronchoalveolar Lavage in Normal Volunteers." ''ATSJournals'' (1983): n. pag. Web. 7 Mar. 2016. The organism is host associated with mammals, suggested by the first isolation in the

lung abscess Lung abscess is a type of liquefactive necrosis of the lung tissue and formation of cavities (more than 2 cm) containing necrotic debris or fluid caused by microbial infection. This pus-filled cavity is often caused by aspiration, which ma ...

of an elephant diagnosed with chronic respiratory disease in Sri Lanka. Most strains of this organism are found in sputum from the respiratory tract with strains found rarely in the lymph nodes.

Morphology

Through

16S rRNA 16S rRNA may refer to: * 16S ribosomal RNA 16 S ribosomal RNA (or 16 S rRNA) is the RNA component of the 30S subunit of a prokaryotic ribosome ( SSU rRNA). It binds to the Shine-Dalgarno sequence and provides most of the SSU structure. The g ...

gene sequencing, this

Gram positive bacteria In bacteriology, gram-positive bacteria are bacteria that give a positive result in the Gram stain test, which is traditionally used to quickly classify bacteria into two broad categories according to their type of cell wall. Gram-positive bacte ...

correlates to the Genus Mycobacterium; but

high-performance liquid chromatography High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), formerly referred to as high-pressure liquid chromatography, is a technique in analytical chemistry used to separate, identify, and quantify each component in a mixture. It relies on pumps to pa ...

and PCR-

restriction enzyme A restriction enzyme, restriction endonuclease, REase, ENase or'' restrictase '' is an enzyme that cleaves DNA into fragments at or near specific recognition sites within molecules known as restriction sites. Restriction enzymes are one class o ...

pattern analysis identifies a new

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

. Its

phenotypic In genetics, the phenotype () is the set of observable characteristics or traits of an organism. The term covers the organism's morphology or physical form and structure, its developmental processes, its biochemical and physiological proper ...

characteristics are in close relationship to '' M. flavescens''. The phenotype shows a coccobacillary

acid-fast Acid-fastness is a physical property of certain bacterial and eukaryotic cells, as well as some sub-cellular structures, specifically their resistance to decolorization by acids during laboratory staining procedures. Once stained as part of a sam ...

organism when cultured in 12B broth and Löwenstein-Jensen solid medium. Yellow pigment and smooth dome shaped was the

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines * Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts * Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies ...

of this species on L-J medium. On Middlebrooke 7H10 agar, strain DSM 44368 of ''Mycobacterium elephantis'' shows this previously stated morphology as well as another described as cream colored. With the onset of age, the yellow pigmentation ensues for DSM 44368. ''M. elephantis'' is also a non-

species, as is a characteristic of the genus ''Mycobacterium''.

Metabolism and physiology

Scarce results have been recorded to show the metabolic properties of ''M. elephantis'', but there has been significant findings. After Shojaei et al. performed experiments testing properties of the 484^t strain, aerobic metabolic properties were found. ''M. elephantis'' is catalase, nitrate reductase, and

urease Ureases (), functionally, belong to the superfamily of amidohydrolases and phosphotriesterases. Ureases are found in numerous bacteria, fungi, algae, plants, and some invertebrates, as well as in soils, as a soil enzyme. They are nickel-contai ...

positive as well as weakly acid alcohol fast. The 484^t strain was found to be negative fo
tellurite reduction
as well as activity with aryl sulphatase. The optimal growth temperature for this species is about 42° Celsius with its first strains showing at the third day of growth at this temperature. Growth at lower temperatures around 30 °C occurs, but growth is minimal over 45 °C. Growth of this organism does not occur at temperatures above 52 °C. Although this organism is slower than average rapid growing ''Mycobacterium'', growth under 7 days classifies this species as a rapid grower. Stunted growth is shown in the presence of

isoniazid Isoniazid, also known as isonicotinic acid hydrazide (INH), is an antibiotic used for the treatment of tuberculosis. For active tuberculosis it is often used together with rifampicin, pyrazinamide, and either streptomycin or ethambutol. For la ...

, rifampicin, and few other drugs.

Genome

''Mycobacterium elephantis'' has been researched and studied to provide some insights on the genomic nature of this organism. A strain of ''M. elephantis'', Lipa, contains a G-C content of 67.8%, and a genome size of 5.19 Mb. Greninger, Alexander L., Gail Cunningham, Joanna M. Yu, Elaine D. Hsu, Charles Y. Chiu, and Steve Miller. "Draft Genome Sequence of Mycobacterium Elephantis Strain Lipa." ''Genome Announcements Genome Announc.'' 3.3 (2015): n. pag. Web. 7 Mar. 2016. 250 pseudogenes are also found in this strain. The 484^t strain's (same as DSM 44368) 16S rRNA gene sequence as compared to other rapid growing mycobacterium showed a mean 96.7+ 0.5% similarity. It also showed a 96.2+ 0.4% similarity to slow growing mycobacteria. The closest neighbors that show the most similarity to ''M. elephantis'' are '' M. confluentis'' at 97.8% and '' M. phlei'' at 97.7%. Although closely related, strain 484^t shows 29 and 30

nucleotide Nucleotides are organic molecules consisting of a nucleoside and a phosphate. They serve as monomeric units of the nucleic acid polymers – deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA), both of which are essential biomolecule ...

differences in the familiar

Significance

''Mycobacterium elephantis'' has the potential to impact

diagnostic Diagnosis is the identification of the nature and cause of a certain phenomenon. Diagnosis is used in many different disciplines, with variations in the use of logic, analytics, and experience, to determine " cause and effect". In systems engin ...

evaluation when patients display untraceable

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

symptoms. A patient in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

was hospitalized due to chronic respiratory disease. A chest

X-ray An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 picometers to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30&nb ...

showed signs including a shadow in her right region of her chest, which is known to be a common sign of tuberculosis . Without physical evidence of tuberculosis by the absence of the species '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'', the

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

s misdiagnosed her with tuberculosis; but the testing of the patient's bronchial lavage found coccobacillary,

microbes A microorganism, or microbe,, ''mikros'', "small") and ''organism'' from the el, ὀργανισμός, ''organismós'', "organism"). It is usually written as a single word but is sometimes hyphenated (''micro-organism''), especially in olde ...

. After further testing, the isolate organism showed high similarity of up to 100% to ''Mycobacterium elephantis''. This demonstrates the difficulty of diagnosing humans with tuberculosis in different geographic areas. Misdiagnosis can be a huge factor in patient care and rehabilitation, and further research on this organism can diminish this problem. ''Mycobacterium elephantis'' should not be ruled out in future diagnostics of chronic respiratory diseases.

References

External links

Type strain of ''Mycobacterium elephantis'' at Bac''Dive'' - the Bacterial Diversity Metadatabase
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mycobacterium Elephantis Acid-fast bacilli

elephantis Elephantis ( grc, Ἐλεφαντίς) (fl. late 1st century BC) was a Greek poet and physician apparently renowned in the classical world as the author of a notorious sex manual. Due to the popularity of courtesans taking animal names in classi ...

Bacteria described in 2000