CULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS AND DRUG AND BACTERIOPHAGE RESISTANCE OF AVIAN TUBERCLE BACILLI

Abstract

Studies with a large collection of acid-fast bacilli indicated that true avian tubercle bacilli were not susceptible to lysis by 4 recently isolated bacteriophages active against virulent human Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In order to use this phenomenon in the identification of mycobacteria, 28 strains of acid-fast organisms, primarily of avian origin, were studied by a variety of methods including culture morphology on solid and liquid media, neutral red and "cording" reactions, susceptibility to chemo-therapeutic agents, susceptibility to phage lysis, and ability to produce disease in chickens.