Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Max Rady College of Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada; Shared Health - Diagnostic Services, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
Infect Genet Evol. 2019 Aug;72:159-168. doi: 10.1016/j.meegid.2019.01.017. Epub 2019 Jan 14.
Seventy years have passed since Ernest H. Runyon presented a phenotypic classification approach for nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), primarily as a starting point in trying to understand their clinical relevance. From numerical taxonomy (biochemical testing) to 16S rRNA gene sequencing to whole genome sequencing (WGS), our understanding of NTM has also evolved. Novel species are described at a rapid pace, while taxonomical relationships are re-defined in large part due to the accessibility of WGS. The evolutionary course of clonal complexes within species is better known for some NTM and less for others. In contrast with M. tuberculosis, much is left to learn about NTM as a whole.
自欧内斯特·H·鲁尼恩（Ernest H. Runyon）提出非结核分枝杆菌（NTM）的表型分类方法以来，已经过去了 70 年，该方法主要是作为了解其临床相关性的起点。从数值分类学（生化测试）到 16S rRNA 基因测序再到全基因组测序（WGS），我们对 NTM 的理解也在不断发展。新型物种以快速的速度被描述，而由于 WGS 的可及性，分类关系在很大程度上被重新定义。在某些 NTM 中，物种内克隆复合体的进化过程更为人所知，而在其他 NTM 中则不然。与结核分枝杆菌相比，我们对整个 NTM 还有很多需要了解的地方。
