Figure 1.

Mycobacterium fortuitum forms large corded bacterial aggregates in vitro. (A) M. abscessus CIP104536^T smooth (S) and rough (R) variants, M. fortuitum subsp. fortuitum (ATCC 6841) and M. smegmatis mc²155 were inoculated in 7H9^OADC/T at an optical density of 0.05 (OD₆₂₀) and incubated at 30°C and (B) 37°C under shaking at 100 rpm. Growth measurements were taken daily over a 7-day period until cultures reached stationary phase. Data shown is the merge of two independent experiments. Error bars represent standard deviation. (C) In vitro liquid growth properties of the different NTM species in CaMHB medium following 3–4 days static culture at 30°C in a 96-well plate. The boxed area depicts the zoomed section of liquid growth in the bottom left hand corner of each well. Scale bars represent 2 mm. (D) In vitro solid agar growth properties of M. fortuitum and M. abscessus R variant following 3 days growth at 30°C. Scale bars represent 1 mm.