''Mycobacterium pyrenivorans'' is a scotochromogenic, rapidly growing mycobacterium, first isolated from an enrichment culture obtained from soil that was highly contaminated with

polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons A polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) is a class of organic compounds that is composed of multiple aromatic rings. The simplest representative is naphthalene, having two aromatic rings and the three-ring compounds anthracene and phenanthrene. ...

(PAHs). The soil sample was collected on the site of a former

coking plant Coke is a grey, hard, and porous coal-based fuel with a high carbon content and few impurities, made by heating coal or oil in the absence of air—a destructive distillation process. It is an important industrial product, used mainly in iron ...

at Ubach-Palenberg, Germany.

Etymology Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the Phonological chan ...

: pyrenivorans; digesting pyrene.

Description

Microscopy *

Gram-positive 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 bact ...

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 ...

rods. Colony characteristics *The rough colonies show a scotochromogenic yellow colour, which intensifies after exposure to light. Physiology *A rapidly growing mycobacterium, growth appears within 7 days at 35 C *Cells grow well between 24 and 37 C but not at 42 C. *In liquid media, the cells clump together or show

biofilm A biofilm comprises any syntrophic consortium of microorganisms in which cells stick to each other and often also to a surface. These adherent cells become embedded within a slimy extracellular matrix that is composed of extracellular ...

formation on glass. *Catalase-positive. Nitrate reduction test shows a weak reaction. *Does not hydrolyse Tween 80 within 10 days. *Mineralizes phenanthrene,

fluoranthene Fluoranthene is a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH). The molecule can be viewed as the fusion of naphthalene and benzene unit connected by a five-membered ring. Although samples are often pale yellow, the compound is colorless. It is soluble ...

, and pyrene, but not

anthracene Anthracene is a solid polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) of formula C14H10, consisting of three fused benzene rings. It is a component of coal tar. Anthracene is used in the production of the red dye alizarin and other dyes. Anthracene is col ...

or benzo yrene. Differential characteristics *The mycolic acid HPLC elution profile is unique and can be used for differentiation from the closely related species ''M. aurum'', ''M. austroafricanum'', ''M. vaccae'' and ''M. vanbaalenii'' and all other mycobacteria.

Pathogenesis

*Isolated from an environmental source, not known to be pathogenic.

Type strain

*The type strain was isolated from soil of a former coking plant at Ubach-Palenberg, Germany. *Strain 17A3 = DSM 44605 = NRRL B-24349.

References

*Derz K. et al., 2004. ''Mycobacterium pyrenivorans'' sp. nov., a novel polycyclic-aromatic-hydrocarbon-degrading species. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol., 2004, 54, 2313–2317.

External links

Type strain of ''Mycobacterium pyrenivorans'' at Bac''Dive'' - the Bacterial Diversity Metadatabase
Acid-fast bacilli pyrenivorans Bacteria described in 2004 {{Mycobacterium-stub