Twenty-five isolates of nontuberculous mycobacteria
isolated from the South Indian BCG trial area were
analysed by high performance liquid chromatography
(HPLC) for mycolic acid pattern. The chromatograms
differentiated the isolates into four species,
namely M. terrae complex, M. intracellulare, M. parafortuitum
and M. fortuitum. Three strains were unidentified,
one of which did not show any mycolic
acid peaks. All isolates had been identified as M.
diernhoferi by biochemical methods in a previous
study. Nineteen of the isolates were analysed by gas
chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) for
the presence of tuberculostearic acid, 2-eicosanol
and mycolic acid cleavage products, and were classified
as nonchromogens or rapidly growing mycobacteria.
The results show that HPLC can discriminate
the described mycobacterial species better than biochemical
methods and GC-MS