Morris Kahn Marine Research Station, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.
Israeli Veterinary Services, Bet Dagan, Israel.
Microbiol Spectr. 2023 Aug 17;11(4):e0085623. doi: 10.1128/spectrum.00856-23. Epub 2023 Jun 5.
Among the numerous pathogenic nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), which may cause disease in both poikilothermic and homoeothermic organisms, members of the unique clade Mycobacterium ulcerans/Mycobacterium marinum (MuMC) may cause disease in both fish and humans. Here, we describe the emergence of Mycobacterium pseudoshottsii, one of the four MuMC members, in Israel. For many years, M. marinum was the dominant NTM that was diagnosed in Israel as a fish pathogen. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first isolation and genomic characterization of infecting edible fish from two different fish species farmed in offshore sea cages in the eastern Mediterranean as well as in a recirculating aquaculture system in Israel. We compared the whole-genome sequences to all available genomic sequences of MuMC in free, publicly accessible databases. Mycobacterium pseudoshottsii was first detected in 1997 in the USA, infecting wild striped bass (Morone saxatilis). Since then, several reports from different countries worldwide have shown its capacity to become established in new regions as well as its pathogenicity to saltwater and euryhaline finfish of different genera. Our phylogenetic analysis revealed that the Mycobacterium ulcerans/Mycobacterium marinum clade (MuMC) is divided into two main branches: one that includes M. marinum and , and the second, which includes other M. marinum isolates as well as two isolates of M. shottsii. Our results reinforce the proposition that the geographical distribution of is much more extensive than is commonly believed. The emergence of in different parts of the world and its pathogenic traits that affect finfish of different genera may be a cause for concern among fish farmers, researchers, and environmental organizations.
在众多致病性非结核分枝杆菌（NTM）中，有些可引起变温动物和恒温动物发病，独特分枝杆菌属分枝杆菌溃疡/分枝杆菌海鱼（MuMC）的成员可引起鱼类和人类发病。在这里，我们描述了分枝杆菌假溃疡分枝杆菌的出现，分枝杆菌假溃疡分枝杆菌是 MuMC 四个成员之一。多年来，分枝杆菌海鱼一直是以色列诊断出的主要 NTM，是鱼类病原体。据我们所知，这是首次从地中海东部近海网箱养殖的两种不同鱼类以及以色列的循环水产养殖系统中分离和基因组特征描述感染可食用鱼类的分枝杆菌假溃疡分枝杆菌。我们将全基因组序列与公共免费数据库中所有可用的 MuMC 基因组序列进行了比较。分枝杆菌假溃疡分枝杆菌于 1997 年首次在美国被检测到，感染野生条纹鲈鱼（Morone saxatilis）。从那时起，来自世界各地的多个报告表明，它有能力在新地区建立，并对不同属的海水和广盐性海水鱼类具有致病性。我们的系统发育分析表明，分枝杆菌溃疡/分枝杆菌海鱼分枝杆菌属（MuMC）分为两个主要分支：一个分支包括分枝杆菌海鱼和分枝杆菌假溃疡分枝杆菌，第二个分支包括其他分枝杆菌海鱼分离株以及分枝杆菌假溃疡分枝杆菌的两个分离株。我们的研究结果证实，分枝杆菌假溃疡分枝杆菌的地理分布比通常认为的要广泛得多。分枝杆菌假溃疡分枝杆菌在世界不同地区的出现及其对不同属鱼类的致病性特征可能会引起鱼类养殖者、研究人员和环保组织的关注。
