Numerical Taxonomy Analysis of Mycobacterium africanum

Abstract

A numerical taxonomy analysis of Mycobacterium africanum strains from Rwanda (6 strains), Burundi (5 strains), Yaoundá (23 strains), Dakar (17 strains), and Mauretania (9 strains) indicated that these bacteria did not cluster separate from the M. tuberculosis or the M. bovis clusters, nor did they eliminate the phenetic discontinuity between the latter. However, the African strains introduced considerable heterogeneity in the usually homogeneous M. tuberculosis and M. bovis clusters. Judging from the data, it did not seem justifiable to create a new species M. africanum. Preliminary genetic analysis did not support the view expressed earlier that these bacteria mutated at high frequencies, and further genetic analysis of these bacteria seemed necessary.