Mycobacterium kansasii QC Overview

Mycobacterium kansasii is a slow-growing, photochromogenic, acid-fast bacillus in the family Mycobacteriaceae, and the non-tuberculous mycobacterium whose pulmonary disease most closely mimics tuberculosis both clinically and radiographically. It is predominantly acquired from municipal water supplies rather than soil, and infection is most common in individuals with underlying lung disease or immunosuppression, including HIV. The genome of M. kansasii (~6.4 Mb) is divided into distinct subtypes (I-VII), with subtype I responsible for the vast majority of human disease, and shares more genomic similarity with the M. tuberculosis complex than most other NTM.