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 (PAHs). The soil sample was collected on the site of a former coking plant at Ubach-Palenberg, Germany. Etymology: pyrenivorans; digesting pyrene.
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.