chemistry

Mycobacterium fortuitum

Mycobacterium fortuitum is a chemistry topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Mycobacterium fortuitum rather than just read about it. In short: Mycobacterium fortuitum is a nontuberculous species of the phylum Actinomycetota (Gram-positive bacteria with high guanine and cytosine content, one of the dominant phyla of all bacteria), belonging to the genus Mycobacterium. Background Mycobacterium fortuitum is a fast-growing species that can cause infections.

Key takeaways

Mycobacterium fortuitum belongs to chemistry; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Mycobacterium fortuitum to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Mycobacterium fortuitum from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Mycobacterium fortuitum is a nontuberculous species of the phylum Actinomycetota (Gram-positive bacteria with high guanine and cytosine content, one of the dominant phyla of all bacteria), belonging to the genus Mycobacterium.

Background Mycobacterium fortuitum is a fast-growing species that can cause infections. The term "fast growing" is a reference to a growth rate of 3 or 4 days, when compared to other Mycobacteria that may take weeks to grow out on laboratory media. Pulmonary infections of M. fortuitum are uncommon, but Mycobacterium fortuitum can cause local skin disease, osteomyelitis (inflammation of the bone), joint infections and infections of the eye after trauma. Mycobacterium fortuitum has a worldwide distribution and can be found in natural and processed water, sewage, and dirt. Bacteria classified as Mycobacteria, include the causative agents for tuberculosis and leprosy. Mycobacteria are sometimes referred to as “acid-fast bacteria,” a term referencing their response to a laboratory staining technique. This simply means that when microscopic slides of these bacteria are rinsed with an acidic solution, they retain a red dye. Mycobacterium fortuitum is one of the many species of nontuberculosis mycobacteria (NTM) that are commonly found in the environment. These are not involved in tuberculosis. This does not mean, however, that they will not cause an infection in the right circumstances. M. fortuitum infection can be a nosocomial (hospital acquired) disease. Surgical sites may become infected after the wound is exposed directly or indirectly to contaminated tap water. Other possible sources of M. fortuitum infection include implanted devices such as catheters, injection site abscesses, and contaminated endoscopes. M. fortuitum is a leading cause of piscine tuberculosis.

Description Gram-positive, nonmotile and acid-fast rods (1-3 μm x 0.2-0.4 μm). Sometimes long rods with occasional beaded or swollen cells having non-acid-fast ovoid bodies at one end. Colony characteristics

Smooth hemispheric colonies, usually off-white or cream colored. May be butyrous, waxy, multilobate and even rosette clustered (dilute inocula). On Malachite green containing media, such as Löwenstein-Jensen media, colonies can absorb the green dye. Physiology

Rapid growth on Löwenstein-Jensen media within 2–4 days. No growth at 45 °C, but grows on MacConkey agar. Differential characteristics

Differentiation from M. fortuitum subsp. acetamidolyticum by its ability to use L-glutamate and its inability to use acetamide as simultaneous nitrogen and carbon source. Both subspecies share an identical 5'-16S rDNA sequence. However, the ITS sequences are different.

Pathogenesis Different types of sporadic infections: pulmonary disease, local abscesses. Postoperative sternal wound infections, endocarditis, meningitis, and osteomyelitis. Has produced postoperative infections after breast augmentation surgery. Biosafety level 2

Treatment The 2007 guideline “Official American Thoracic Society (ATS) and Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) statement: diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of non-tuberculosis mycobacterial diseases”, notes that M. fortuitum isolates are usually susceptible to multiple oral antimicrobial agents, including the macrolides, quinolones, some tetracyclines, and sulfonamides, as well as the intravenous carbapenems (e.g. imipenem). Ondansetron HCL (Zofran) is an antiemetic often given to offset the nausea and vomiting that are a common side effect of Imipenem. Severe infections require IV treatment combined with oral antibiotics for a prolonged period, up to several months. The guideline recommends “for serious skin, bone, and soft tissue M fortuitum disease, a minimum of 4 months of therapy with at least two agents with in vitro activity against the clinical isolate is necessary to provide a high likelihood of cure. Surgery is generally indicated with extensive disease, abscess formation, or where drug therapy is difficult.”

Type strain Found world-wide in soil, dust, rivers, lakes and tap water. First isolated from a 25-year-old patient (syringe abscess) in Rio de Janeiro. Also isolated from lymph glands of cattle and systemic or nodular infection of frogs. Strain ATCC 6841 = CCUG 20994 = CIP 104534 = DSM 46621 = IFO (now NBRC) 13159 = JCM 6387 = NCTC 10394. Subsequently, this species has been divided into subspecies M. fortuitum subsp. acetamidolyticum

References

Further reading National Institutes of Health, Office of Rare Disease Research, Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center (GARD) [1] Da Costa Cruz, J. 1938. Mycobacterium fortuitum um novo bacillo acido-resistente patogênico para o homem. Acta Medica (Rio de Janeiro), 1, 297-301. Kothavade, RJ; Dhurat, RS; Mishra, SN; Kothavade, UR (2013). "Clinical and laboratory aspects of the diagnosis and management of cutaneous and subcutaneous infections caused by rapidly growing mycobacteria". European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases. 32 (2): 161–88. doi:10.1007/s10096-012-1766-8. PMID 23139042. S2CID 207052079.

External links Type strain of Mycobacterium fortuitum at BacDive - the Bacterial Diversity Metadatabase

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Mycobacterium fortuitum

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Mycobacterium fortuitum claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Mycobacterium fortuitum before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Mycobacterium fortuitum ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Mycobacterium fortuitum

In research: Mycobacterium fortuitum appears in chemistry research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Mycobacterium fortuitum in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Mycobacterium fortuitum is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Acid-fast bacilli, Bacteria described in 1938, Fish diseases, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Mycobacterium fortuitum outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Mycobacterium fortuitum in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Mycobacterium fortuitum means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Mycobacterium fortuitum out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mycobacterium fortuitum in simple terms?

Why does Mycobacterium fortuitum matter?

Because it connects several chemistry ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Mycobacterium fortuitum?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Mycobacterium fortuitum.