Is leprosy bacillus a chemo-autotrophic nocardioform organism?

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Date
1990-07-01
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Abstract
Numerous attempts at in vitro cultivation of the leprosy bacillus have all proved to be unsuccessful. Recently, we have repeatedly isolated chemo-autotrophic nocardioform (CAN) organisms in pure culture from multibacillary cases of leprosy. We find that these resemble the leprosy bacillus in many respects and suggest that the leprosy bacillus may be closer to the genus Nocardia than to Mycobacterium, and that it may be a chemo-autotroph, requiring only simple sources of carbon and nitrogen for its growth. This is in contrast to most other human pathogens, which are heterotrophs requiring complex sources of carbon and nitrogen for their growth. This could offer a possible explanation for the repeated failure at in vitro cultivation of the leprosy bacillus.
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Pal D, Chakrabarty AN, Dastidar SG. Is leprosy bacillus a chemo-autotrophic nocardioform organism? Indian Journal of Leprosy. 1990 Jul-Sep; 62(3): 351-7
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https://imsear.searo.who.int/handle/123456789/54713
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Indian Journal of Leprosy