Taxonomic characteristics of soil Mycobacteria and their antibiotic properties

: Morphological, cultural and chemotaxonomic properties of 12 gram-positive soil cultures isolated were studied by using a test system developed for screening the organisms producing broad-spectrum antibiotics among Nocardiaforms (Coryneforms). The cultures were found to belong to Actinomycetales, Nocardioforms, Mycobacteriaceae and Mycobacterium. The saprophytic rapidly growing soil mycobacteria showed antibiotic activity against a large number of gram-positive and gram-negative test microbes including those belonging to Pseudomonas and Proteus resistant to the majority of the antibiotics currently used in medicine.