First report of isolation of Mycobacterium novocastrense from water supplies

Abstract

We herein present the first documented report associated with the isolation of Mycobacterium novocastrense from environment. The identification and characterization of four unrelated isolates, one from the surface water and the other three from hospital water, were achieved by various conventional and molecular tests including a genus-specific PCR for Mycobacterium based on 65-kDa heat shock protein (hsp) gene and 16S rDNA sequencing. Our findings might shed further light on the natural habitat of this rare Mycobacterium.

Keywords: 16S rDNA; Mycobacterium; hsp65.