Tsukamurella

Published in Ronald M. Atlas, James W. Snyder, Handbook Of Media for Clinical Microbiology, 2006

Ronald M. Atlas, James W. Snyder

Use: For the cultivation and differentiation of Myco-bacterium species. Mycobacterium tuberculosis appears as granular, rough, dry colonies. Mycobacterium kansasii appears as smooth to rough photochromoge-nic colonies. Mycobacterium gordonae appears as smooth yellow-orange colonies. Mycobacterium avium appears as smooth, colorless colonies. Mycobacterium smegmatis appears as wrinkled, creamy white colonies. Also used for the cultivation and maintenance of Gordona species, Nocardia species, Rhodo-coccus species, and Tsukamurella paurometabolum.

Tsukamurella pulmonis central venous catheter infection mimicking proteinase 3-antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (PR3-ANCA)-associated vasculitis

Published in Immunological Medicine, 2021

Kiyoaki Ochi, Tomoyuki Mukai, Shigeru Ota, Chihiro Hiraiwa, Masahiko Ikeda, Airi Ikeda, Takashi Oda, Youichiro Yamamoto, Toru Ueki

Tsukamurella species are aerobic gram-positive rods that are found in a broad range of environments such as soil, water, and sludge [3,4]. Tsukamurella species are categorized to the order Actinomycetales and have many features similar to other Actinomycetales, such as Nocardia, Rhodococcus, Gordonia, and rapidly growing Mycobacterium bacteria [3]. Hence, Tsukamurella species can be misidentified as one of these genera using standard microbiological tests [3]. However, the identification of Tsukamurella can be achieved by 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing [4,5]. Clinical features of Tsukamurella infection include catheter-related bloodstream infections, skin and soft tissue infections, respiratory tract infections, conjunctivitis, and brain abscesses [3,4,6]. In the present case, Tsukamurella infection developed as a catheter-related bloodstream infection. Although most reported cases of Tsukamurella bacteremia were limited to immunocompromised patients [3,6–8], our patient was a non-immunocompromised individual. This suggests that Tsukamurella infection can occur not only in immunocompromised individuals but also in immunocompetent individuals on a specific occasion, such as intravenous catheter insertion. Since Tsukamurella species have been misdiagnosed as other Actinomycetales in the absence of correct molecular diagnostic methods [4,5], the importance of Tsukamurella species in disease presentation and pathogenesis may have been underestimated in clinical settings. Therefore, appropriate diagnosis and accumulation of clinical data are required to develop proper therapeutic strategies for Tsukamurella infection.