Mycobacterium hiberniae

Mycobacterium hiberniae
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Bacteria
Phylum:	Actinobacteria
Order:	Actinomycetales
Suborder:	Corynebacterineae
Family:	Mycobacteriaceae
Genus:	Mycobacterium
Species:	M. hiberniae
Binomial name
Mycobacterium hiberniae Kazda et al. 1993, ATCC 49874

Mycobacterium hiberniae is a species of the phylum actinobacteria (Gram-positive bacteria with high guanine and cytosine content, one of the dominant phyla of all bacteria), belonging to the genus mycobacterium.

Etymology Hibernia, Latin for Ireland where it was first isolated.

Description

Polymorphic, beaded, gram-positive, nonmotile and acid-fast rods (0.9 µm x 1.2-1.5 µm).

Colony characteristics

• Smooth and glistening colonies with rose-pink pigmentation but become rough and dry later. Colonies with unique pigment production are 1-1.5 mm in diameter.

Physiology

• Slow growth on Löwenstein-Jensen medium and Middlebrook 7H10 agar at 37°C (range: 22-37°C). No growth at 42°C.
• Resistant to isoniazid, rifampin, and streptomycin
• Sensitive to ethambutol.

Differential characteristics

• M. hiberniae has unusual rose-pink pigmentation, which is unique in the genus Mycobacterium.

Pathogenesis

• Not pathogenic
• Provokes a nonspecific skin hypersensitivity reaction to bovine tuberculin.
• Biosafety level 1

Type strain

• First isolated from true moss, sphagnum and soil in Ireland

Strain Hi 11 = ATCC 49874 = CIP 104537 = DSM 44241 = JCM 13571.

References

• Kazda et al. 1993. Mycobacterium hiberniae sp. nov. Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol., 43, 352-357.