Abstract
Forty-one strains of weakly acid-fast organisms were isolated from sputa of patients with pulmonary disease. The organisms resisted treatment of sputum with alkali solu ion and grew on Ogawa egg medium showing R-type colonies like M. tuberculosis. The organisms had similar characteristics and appeared to belong to the same species. These differed from Mycobacterium and Nocardia and were considered to be an intermediate between Mycobacterium and Nocardia. Similar but not identical organisms were isolated from soil. These soil isolates were divided into two subgroups. Among the microorganisms hitherto described, the organisms resembled most “Mycobacterium” rhodochrous. Although it is possible that these organisms belong to the genus Mycococcus, the possibility has not been confirmed, as it is impossible, at present, to obtain the type strains of this genus described by Russian author, Krassilnikov. A new genus name, Gordona, has been proposed preliminarily for this group of the organisms, and the name, Gordona bronchialis, gen. nov., sp. nov., has been proposed for the organisms isolated from sputum. The characters of the organisms are described.
