IDENTIFICATION AND CHARACTERISATION OF MYCOBACTERIA OTHER THAN TB BY PROTEIN FINGER PRINTING

Summary : Whole cell extracts of M gordonae and M tuberculosis (clinical isolate and H37Rv) were prepared arid electrophbresed on 10% polyacrylarntcle gels. Staining of the gels shows many prominent bands of M, gordanae distinct from that of M, tuberculosis. The douhle diffusion pattern shows cross-reacting and distinct bands among different species of mycobacteria. The immunoblot of M gordonae with hyperimmune serum shows three distinct bands of 24, 26 and 58 KDa, while 55 KDa antigen cross reacts with M tuberculosis serum. The data show that there is a good possibility of developing a specific and rapid system for identification and characterization of nontuberculous mycobacteria by Protein Finger Printing technique. phagetyping. 5 ' 6 ' 7 ' 8 These tests not only take a long time but also give ambiguous results because of the phenotypic variations among the different strains of the same species. Further, immunodiffusion and immuno-electrophoresis were tried but analysis of the findings was difficult because of the presence of cross reactive antigens. 9 There is, therefore, a great need to develop a sensitive and specific method by which NTM could be easily identified. In this report, we describe the use and importance of Protein Finger Printing and Immunoblotting for identification of NTM.