Mycolicibacterium
Mycolicibacterium is a genus of Gram-positive rod-shaped bacteria in the family Mycobacteriaceae from the order Mycobacteriales.
| Mycolicibacterium | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Bacteria |
| Phylum: | Actinomycetota |
| Class: | Actinomycetia |
| Order: | Mycobacteriales |
| Family: | Mycobacteriaceae |
| Genus: | Mycolicibacterium Gupta et al. 2018 |
| Type species | |
| Mycolicibacterium fortuitum (da Costa Cruz 1938) Gupta et al. 2018 | |
| Species | |
|
See text. | |
Members of Mycolicibacterium were demarcated from the larger genus Mycobacterium in 2018 by Gupta et al. based on evidence from various phylogenetic trees constructed based on conserved genome sequences, comparative genomic analyses and average amino acid identity values. In addition to this genus, the study proposed the division of Mycobacterium into a total of five distinct genera, which was met with some resistance by some of the scientific community. The resistance was based on the grounds that Mycobacterium contains some clinically relevant species and name changes might cause confusion among clinicians and other researchers.
In 2020, Yamada et al. analyzed the fundamental morphological properties of the new genera, including the cell diameter, cell length, cell perimeter, cell circularity and aspect ratio, and determined that there were significant differences between the five genera, thus supporting the new division.
The name Mycolicibacterium is derived from the Latin noun acidum mycolicum (translates to mycolic acid) and the Latin noun bacterium (translates to small rod). Together the name refers to a genus of mycolic acid containing rod-shaped bacteria.