Talk:Mycobacterium

Etymology of Myco–
Why is it called a "myco"bacterium? Isn't "myco" the radical for fungi? - Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 201.8.16.151 (talk • contribs)


 * I came here wondering the same thing 67.188.22.41 03:51, 29 January 2006 (UTC)


 * The Latin root myco- does mean fungus or fungus-like, though it can also mean waxy (see mycolic acid for an example of this usage). While Mycobacterium species do bear a passing resemblance to fungi when they grown on solid media (as in this image), it is the presence of "waxy" compounds in the cell wall that gives this genus its name&mdash;as well as its resistance to Gram staining. -- MarcoTolo 22:15, 1 May 2006 (UTC)


 * I was wondering the exact same thing. I went to Discussions to see if there was any mention of the issue, and lo and behold, the only topic in Discussions is the very issue I was concerned about. Go, Wikipedia!


 * Hah, me too. Maybe it should be in the article? --Galaxiaad 07:46, 14 February 2007 (UTC)


 * Hi, actually I have a book here that states "The name myco, meaning fungus like, was derived from their occasional exhibition of filamentous growth." Microbiology an Introduction, Tortora Funke and Case, 8th Ed p. 325 Would love to know the actual answer! :)Bindi13 (talk) 01:52, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

I have a book that says the same thing —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.13.64.91 (talk) 12:10, 3 February 2010 (UTC)

We were told the same thing in Spain during our microbiology lectures: mycobacteria were thought to be "like fungi", which gave them their name. The discovery of the waxy components of the wall is probably much newer than the name. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.221.9.206 (talk) 15:01, 20 June 2010 (UTC)

It's a Greek word, not a Latin word. The 'y' is a clue. Even with neologisms which the Greco-Romans would never have used, Latin spelling and endings are used even to translate Greek words. I know of no such use of 'wax', and am not convinced this is the origin of 'mycolic', so in light of all this I'll delete that reference from the article. Harsimaja (talk) 02:29, 22 August 2011 (UTC)


 * Referenced EPA report in opening that explains the name as describing "the way that the tubercle bacillus grows on the surface of liquid media as mold-like pellicles" BluePenguin18 🐧  ( 💬 ) 05:30, 6 December 2022 (UTC)

Mycobacterium celatum
If someone has a minute to look at that article, it needs wikifying and a lot of expanding. Itsmejudith (talk) 13:23, 18 March 2008 (UTC)

M. miroti is also in the M. tuberculosis complex. This is not indicated in the list. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 150.142.232.4 (talk) 15:58, 4 June 2008 (UTC) vcb


 * I have since removed the attempt to list all species in this genus, as it has currently reached 195 and genetic analysis is making an exact definition of the complex difficult BluePenguin18 🐧  ( 💬 ) 05:30, 6 December 2022 (UTC)

neither Gram negative nor positive
Where does this assumption come from ? I would regard this with great skepticism. XApple (talk) 12:53, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

It can't be Gram stained with normal techniques as it has no cell wall, so acid-fast staining is used. This gives a result, so saying it is neither gram positive or negative is untrue, right? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.13.64.91 (talk) 12:11, 3 February 2010 (UTC)

They do have a cell wall —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.92.77.54 (talk) 03:22, 8 December 2010 (UTC) bv


 * For future editors, this was a confusing claim when these editors were discussing a decade ago, but I have added an image of the cell envelope to this page from a recent open-source journal article to illustrate the current understanding of why mycobacteria are between Gram-positive and Gram-negative (requiring acid-fast stains over Gram's) BluePenguin18 🐧  ( 💬 ) 05:30, 6 December 2022 (UTC)

Mycobacterial capsule
The article states that mycobateria have no capsule. I thought it was widely known that they do have a capsule containing a-glucan? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.37.210.210 (talk) 12:15, 28 June 2011 (UTC)


 * You are right. Mycobacterium has capsule but its observation is difficult with conventional microscopy techniques. See: Daffé M, Etienne G. The capsule of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and its implications for pathogenicity. Tuber Lung Dis. 1999;79(3):153-69. . . Quotation: "Although conventional processing of samples for microscopy studies failed to demonstrate this structure around in vitro-grown bacilli, the application of new microscopy techniques to mycobacteria allows the visualization of a thick capsule in specimen from axenic cultures of mycobacteria."--Miguelferig (talk) 20:44, 10 January 2013 (UTC)


 * Significantly expanded explanation of this genus' cell envelope, including a mention of capsules comprised of glucans. Thanks for calling this out! BluePenguin18 🐧  ( 💬 ) 05:30, 6 December 2022 (UTC)

External links modified (February 2018)
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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/19990427052417/http://kiev.physchem.kth.se/MycDB.html to http://kiev.physchem.kth.se/MycDB.html
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 * As reflected in edit history, many of these links are to mycobacterium databases that have since shutdown. Since the Internet Archive focuses on the main pages, I removed these sites since the archive in insufficient at capturing the original data and replaced them with links to newer projects BluePenguin18 🐧  ( 💬 ) 20:36, 4 December 2022 (UTC)

Mycobacterium fortuitum
Can someone explain this to me 107.77.227.110 (talk) 05:03, 7 June 2022 (UTC)


 * Check the associated Wikipedia article for more information. If you are looking for medical advice, speak with your doctor because WP:MEDICAL emphasizes that this online encyclopedia is not a stand-in for professional advice. Reference https://bmcinfectdis.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12879-017-2892-9 for more information on how this bacterial species causes disease in humans BluePenguin18 🐧  ( 💬 ) 20:36, 4 December 2022 (UTC)

CF (Cystic Fibrosis)?
I'm just a regular guy but I'm assuming that M. chitae and M. fallax aren't part of the cystic fibrosis group of mycobacteria 211.21.129.76 (talk) 09:41, 2 August 2022 (UTC)


 * Agree no online sources seem to support this classification, and such misinformation is problematic because the Global Biodiversity Information Facility website references this page BluePenguin18 🐧  ( 💬 ) 20:36, 4 December 2022 (UTC)


 * As an update, I have removed the attempted list of all species in this genus, as LPSN currently lists 195 valid child taxa. The taxonomic relationships are now reflected in a newly uploaded set of phylogenetic trees. Thanks for calling out the issue! BluePenguin18 🐧  ( 💬 ) 05:30, 6 December 2022 (UTC)