Two pigmented mycobacteria isolated from sputum specimens were described by biochemical tests, whole-cell fatty acid analyses by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and sequencing of 65-kDa heat shock protein gene and 16S rRNA gene. The hsp65 gene and 16S rRNA gene sequences of the Mycobacterium sp. G1368 and Mycobacterium sp. E498 were deposited in DDBJ/EMBL/GenBank under accession numbers AY553874, DQ324791 and AY379074, DQ324792, respectively. Mycobacterium sp. G1368 grew in about one week at 37 degrees C and 42 degrees C and produced smooth, yellow colonies. It reduced tellurite and hydrolyzed urea. Nitrate reduction, aryl sulfatase, pyrazin amidase, heat stable catalase and semiquantitative catalase tests were also positive, while Tween 80 hydrolysis was weakly positive. Mycobacterium sp. E498 grew in about 9 days at 37 degrees C and formed smooth, yellow colonies. It hydrolyzed Tween 80, possessed aryl sulfatase, pyrazin amidase and heat stable catalase, however, it did not possess urease and nitrate reductase. These data, in addition to their position in the phylogenetic tree, strongly support the status of novel species at least for Mycobacterium sp. G1368.