''Mycobacterium orygis'' is a species of the

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, in w ...

complex of the genus ''

Mycobacterium ''Mycobacterium'' is a genus of over 190 species in the phylum Actinomycetota, assigned its own family, Mycobacteriaceae. This genus includes pathogens known to cause serious diseases in mammals, including tuberculosis (''M. tuberculosis'') and l ...

''. It causes tuberculosis in

oryx ''Oryx'' is a genus consisting of four large antelope species called oryxes. Their pelage is pale with contrasting dark markings in the face and on the legs, and their long horns are almost straight. The exception is the scimitar oryx, which ...

, rhinos,

dairy cattle Dairy cattle (also called dairy cows) are cattle bred for the ability to produce large quantities of milk, from which dairy products are made. Dairy cattle generally are of the species '' Bos taurus''. Historically, little distinction was ma ...

rhesus monkey The rhesus macaque (''Macaca mulatta''), colloquially rhesus monkey, is a species of Old World monkey. There are between six and nine recognised subspecies that are split between two groups, the Chinese-derived and the Indian-derived. Generally b ...

s, and humans.

Morphology

''Mycobacterium orygis'' is similar in morphology to species in the tuberculosis complex of ''Mycobacterium''. It is a non-motile, acid fast bacterium. The cell walls are composed primarily of

Mycolic acid Mycolic acids are long fatty acids found in the cell walls of the Mycolata taxon, a group of bacteria that includes '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'', the causative agent of the disease tuberculosis. They form the major component of the cell wall o ...

s. The cells are irregular rods, 0.3–0.5 um in diameter and 2–3 um in length.

Metabolism

''Mycobacterium orygis'' is an obligate aerobe, and a facultative intracellular

pathogen In biology, a pathogen ( el, πάθος, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of") in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a ger ...

. It has a doubling time of 15–20 hours within cells, and longer when outside cells. ''Mycobacterium orygis'' uses the host's cells internal

fatty acid In chemistry, particularly in biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid with an aliphatic chain, which is either saturated or unsaturated. Most naturally occurring fatty acids have an unbranched chain of an even number of carbon atoms, ...

s for both a carbon source and an energy source. These molecules include cholesterol, triacylglycerides, and

glycosphingolipid Glycosphingolipids are a subtype of glycolipids containing the amino alcohol sphingosine. They may be considered as sphingolipids with an attached carbohydrate. Glycosphingolipids are a group of lipids (more specifically, sphingolipids) and are a ...

s. The optimum growing range for this species is 32 degrees Celsius.

Genome

Strain 51145, obtained from a human diagnosed with tuberculosis

meningitis Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, headache, and neck stiffness. Other symptoms include confusion ...

in 1997, has a 4.4 Mbp genome, 4032 genes and a GC content of 65.6%.

Causative agent of tuberculosis

This species is a pathogen of oryx, deer, dairy cattle, rhesus monkeys, and humans. It is internationally spread as of 2021. It is a threat to the greater one-horned rhinoceros, which is considered vulnerable by the ICUN. It can present as respiratory and neurological disease, and forms

granuloma A granuloma is an aggregation of macrophages that forms in response to chronic inflammation. This occurs when the immune system attempts to isolate foreign substances that it is otherwise unable to eliminate. Such substances include infectious ...

s which can cause severe health problems and death.David M. Love, Michael M. Garner, Konstantin P. Lyashchenko, Alina Sikar-Gang, Daniel S. Bradway, Suelee Robbe-Austerman, Michele Miller, and Jan Ramer "TUBERCULOSIS CAUSED BY MYCOBACTERIUM ORYGIS IN A GREATER ONE-HORNED RHINOCEROS (RHINOCEROS UNICORNIS): FIRST REPORT IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE," Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine 50(4), 1000-1004, (9 January 2020). https://doi.org/10.1638/2018-0084

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q109801739 Wikipedia Student Program Mycobacteria Tuberculosis Bovine diseases