RT Journal Article SR Electronic(1) A1 ROGALL, TILL A1 WOLTERS, JÖRN A1 FLOHR, THOMAS A1 BÖTTGER, ERIK C.YR 1990 T1 Towards a Phylogeny and Definition of Species at the Molecular Level within the Genus Mycobacterium JF International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, VO 40 IS 4 SP 323 OP 330 DO https://doi.org/10.1099/00207713-40-4-323 PB Microbiology Society, SN 1466-5034, AB 16S rRNA sequences from Mycobacterium tuberculosis, M. avium, M. gastri, M. kansasii, M. marinum, M. chelonae, M. smegmatis, M. terrae, M. gordonae, M. scrofulaceum, M. szulgai, M. intracellulare, M. nonchromogenicum, M. xenopi, M. malmoense, M. simiae, M. flavescens, M. fortuitum, and M. paratuberculosis were determined and compared. The sequence data were used to infer a phylogenetic tree, which provided the basis for a systematic phylogenetic analysis of the genus Mycobacterium. The groups of slow- and fast-growing mycobacteria could be differentiated as distinct entities. We found that M. simiae occupies phylogenetically an intermediate position between these two groups. The phylogenetic relatedness within the slow-growing species did not reflect the Runyon classification of photochromogenic, scotochromogenic, and nonchromogenic mycobacteria. In general, the phylogenetic units identified by using rRNA sequences confirmed the validity of phenotypically defined species; an exception was M. gastri, which was indistinguishable from M. kansasii when this kind of analysis was used., UL https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/ijsem/10.1099/00207713-40-4-323