%0 Journal Article %A Wayne, Lawrence G. %A Diaz, Gilbert A. %T Reciprocal Immunological Distances of Catalase Derived from Strains of Mycobacterium avium, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and Closely Related Species %D 1979 %J International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, %V 29 %N 1 %P 19-24 %@ 1466-5034 %R https://doi.org/10.1099/00207713-29-1-19 %I Microbiology Society, %X The structural divergence of catalase derived from different mycobacteria has previously been studied in terms of immunological distances as determined by titration with antiserum against catalase extracted from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This study has been extended by addition of a second reference antiserum: One raised against catalase from M. avium. The two systems show a high reciprocality of immunological distance against one another. The catalase from M. intracellulare is serologically very similar to that of M. avium, and the enzyme from M. bovis is very similar to that of M. tuberculosis. Catalase extracted from BCG, a pathovar of M. bovis, appears to exhibit structural modification which diverges from the parent M. bovis and converges on M. avium. Two classes of catalase have been separated from M. scrofulaceum: One is nonreactive with either reference antiserum, and the other exhibits immunological distances that suggest that M. avium is in a position between M. scrofulaceum and M. tuberculosis. %U https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/ijsem/10.1099/00207713-29-1-19