A protocol for culturing environmental strains of the Buruli ulcer agent, Mycobacterium ulcerans.

ABSTRACT: Contaminations and fastidiousness of M. ulcerans may have both hamper isolation of strains from environmental sources. We aimed to optimize decontamination and culture of environmental samples to circumvent both limitations. Three strains of M. ulcerans cultured onto Middlebrook 7H10 at 30?°C for 20 days yielded a significantly higher number of colonies in micro-aerophilic atmosphere compared to ambient atmosphere, 5% CO2 and anaerobic atmosphere. In a second step, we observed that M. ulcerans genome uniquely encoded chitinase, fucosidase and A-D-GlcNAc-diphosphoryl polyprenol A-3-L-rhamnosyl transferase giving M. ulcerans the potential to metabolize chitine, fucose and N-acetyl galactosamine (NAG), respectively. A significant growth-promoting effect of 0.2?mg/mL chitin (p?

SUBMITTER: Zingue D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5928104 | biostudies-other | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other