We compared four decontamination methods for the isolation of mycobacteria from soil specimens. Different media were used: Lwenstein-Jensen, Ogawa and various modified Ogawa media. Statistical analysis demonstrated that the best results (low contamination and high positivity rates) were obtained when the specimens were incubated in trypticase soy broth, treated with solutions containing malachite green and cycloheximide, then decontaminated with sodium hydroxide and inoculated onto Ogawa media. The lowest contamination rates were obtained with Ogawa medium containing 500 g cycloheximide ml-1. The use of these techniques is proposed for the isolation of mycobacteria from heavily contaminated clinical specimens as well as from soil.
BeerwerthW.1967; Culture of mycobacteria from the droppings of domestic animals and the role of these bacteria in epizootiology. Praxis in Pneumology 21:189–202
ChapmanJ. S.,
BernardJ. S.1962; The tolerances of unclassified mycobacteria. 1. Limits of the pFl tolerance. American Review of Respiratory Diseases 86:582–583
CorperH. J.,
CohnM. L.1952; Cycloheximide (antibiotic Actidione) as a fungicide in solid media for growing tubercule bacilli from sputum. Antibiotics and Chemotherapy 2:12–15
CorperH. J.,
StonerR. E.1946; An improved procedure for diagnostic culture of mammalian tubercle bacilli. Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine 31:1364–1370
GeorgeK. L.,
FalkinhamJ. O.III1985; Selective medium for the isolation and enumeration of Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare and M.scrofulaceum.
. Canadian Journal of Microbiology 32:10–14
JenkinsP. A.,
PattynS. R.,
PortaelsF.1982; Diagnostic bacteriology. In The Biology of the Mycobacteria pp. 441–471RatledgeC.,
StanfordJ. L.
Edited by London: Academic Press;
KubicaG. P.,
BeamR. E.,
PalmerJ. W.1963; A method for the isolation of unclassified acid-fast bacilli from soil and water. American Review of Respiratory Diseases 88:718–720
PetroffS. A.1915; A new and rapid method for the isolation and cultivation of tubercle bacilli directly from the sputum and feces. Journal of Experimental Medicine 21:38–42
PortaelsF.1978Etude d’Actinomycetales isolees de I'homme et de son environnement en Afrique Centrale. Doctoral thesis, University of Brussels: Belgium;
PortaelsF.,
FranckenA.,
PattynS. R.1982; Bacteriological studies of armadillo livers infected with Mycobacterium leprae. Annales de la Societe beige de medecine tropicale 62:233–245
PortaelsF.,
De ridderK.,
PattynS. R.1985; Cultivable mycobacteria isolated from organs of armadillos uninoculated and inoculated with Mycobacterium leprae. Annales de I’lnstitut Pasteur/Microbiologie 136A:181–190
ThoenC. O.,
HimesE. M.,
JarnaginJ. L.,
HarringtonR.1979; Comparison of four culture media for isolation of Mycobacterium avium complex from porcine tissues. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 9:194–196
WolinskyE.,
RynearsonT. K.1968; Mycobacteria in soil and their relation to diseases-associated strains. American Review of Respiratory Diseases 97:1032–1037