Query: NC_016804:1846388 Mycobacterium bovis BCG str. Mexico chromosome, complete genome Lineage: Mycobacterium bovis; Mycobacterium; Mycobacteriaceae; Actinomycetales; Actinobacteria; Bacteria General Information: Like other closely related Actinomycetales, such as Nocardia and Corynebacterium, mycobacteria have unusually high genomic DNA GC content and are capable of producing mycolic acids as major components of their cell wall. This bacterium is the causative agent of classic bovine tuberculosis, but it can also cause the disease in humans, especially if contaminated milk is consumed without prior pasteurization. The Mycobacterium bovis complex is a diverse group of species, serovars and morphotypes that cause tuberculosis-like diseases in animals and humans. Pasteurization of milk is a major preventitive factor in transmission of bovine tuberculosis to humans. However, spreading the disease through milk and dairy products is still a concern in underdeveloped countries where pasteurization is not practiced.
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General Information: This strain (H37Ra; ATCC 25177) is an avirulent strain derived from its virulent parent strain H37 (isolated from a 19 year-old male patient with chronic pulmonary tuberculosis by Edward R. Baldwin in 1905). Causative agent of tuberculosis. This genus comprises a number of Gram-positive, acid-fast, rod-shaped aerobic bacteria and is the only member of the family Mycobacteriaceae within the order Actinomycetales. Like other closely related Actinomycetales, such as Nocardia and Corynebacterium, mycobacteria have unusually high genomic DNA GC content and are capable of producing mycolic acids as major components of their cell wall. This bacterium is the causative agent of tuberculosis - a chronic infectious disease with a growing incidence worldwide. It infects 1.7 billion people a year (~33% of the entire world population) and causes over 3 million deaths/year. This bacterium does not form a polysaccharide capsule, and is an extremely slow growing obligate aerobe. This bacterium does not form a polysaccharide capsule, and is an extremely slow growing obligate aerobe. This bacterium does not form a polysaccharide capsule, and is an extremely slow growing obligate aerobe. The sluggish growth rate is a result of the tough cell wall that resists the passage of nutrients into the cell and inhibits waste products to be excreted out of the cell. The specialized cell envelope of this organism resembles a modified Gram positive cell wall. It also contains complex fatty acids, such as mycolic acids, that cause the waxy appearance and impermeability of the envelope. These acids are found bound to the cell envelope, but also form cord factors when linked with a carbohydrate component to form a cord-like structure. Primary infection occurs by inhalation of the organism in droplets that are aerosolized by an infected person. The organism initially replicates in cells of the terminal airways, after which it is taken up by, and replicates in, alveolar macrophages. Macrophages distribute the organism to other areas of the lungs and the regional lymph nodes. Once a cell-mediated hypersensitivity immune response develops, replication of the organism decreases and the bacteria become restricted to developing granulomas.