Nomenclature of Mycobacterium tuberculosis [M.tb]

Mycobacterium tuberculosis, gets its name from the disease it causes (tuberculosis) and the properties of the bacterial order/ family it is classified under. Below is the description of the origin of both the words "Tuberculosis" and "Mycobacterim".

Tuberculosis:  The term tuberculosis was coined by Johann Lukas Schönlein, a German professor of Medicine in 1834. When conducting autopsies of tuberculosis patients, doctors described small, round, firm, white swellings on the surface or within an organ, most typically the lungs. These appeared similar to potatoes or in latin 'tuber'; the tubercle is a diminutive of tuber and comes from the Latin, tuberculum, or a small swelling. Thus tuberculosis is a combination of word ‘tubercle’ and the Greek suffix ‘-osis’, which signifies an abnormal or diseased condition, action, or process.

Mycobacterium: Mycobacteria are a slow-growing, chemoorganotrophic, non-motile, non-spore-forming, aerobic bacillus. They grow similar to fungi on cultures. Hence the attribution of "myco-" in the name. The pathogen is scientifically classification is as follows:

M. tuberculosis was first described as the causative agent of tuberculosis by Robert Koch in 1882 hence is also known as ‘Koch’s bacilli’.

Resources

• Microbe Profile: Mycobacterium tuberculosis: Humanity’s deadly microbial foe, 01 April 2018, Stephen V. Gordon, and Tanya Parish
• TB Chronicles, CDC Atlanta

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