Topic summary
Mycobacteria
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Mycobacterium.
Morphology
Mycobacteria are aerobic with 0.2–0.6 μm wide and 1.0–10 μm long rod shapes. They are generally non-motile, except for the species Mycobacterium marinum, which has been shown to be motile within macrophages. Mycobacteria possess capsules and most do not form endospores. M. marinum and perhaps M. bovis have been shown to sporulate; however, this has been contested by further research. The distinguishing characteristic of all Mycobacterium species is a thick, hydrophobic, and mycolic acid-rich cell wall made of peptidoglycan and arabinogalactan, with these unique components offering targets for new tuberculosis drugs.