Mycobacterium avium

Mycobacterium avium

Modes of Nutrition

The modes of nutrition for bacteria include autotrophic, heterotrophic, chemotrophic, and phototrophic modes of nutrition. Autotrophs can produce energy and food using the available resources in the environment, whereas heterotrophs depend on other living organisms for food. Chemotrophs utilize chemical energy in their surroundings to produce food, while phototrophs make use of light energy from the sun to make food. In most cases, microbes can combine two or more modes of nutrition for their survival.

Chemoheterotrophic and Photoheterotrophic Nutrition

Mycobacterium avium is characterized as slowly growing, acid-fast bacilli that produce a yellow pigment in the absence of light (Inderlied, Kemper & Bermudez, 1993). Like most pathogens, mycobacterium avium is heterotrophic. It also exhibits a chemotrophic type of feeding. Additionally, the fact that the bacterium produces a yellow pigment in the absence of light indicates that, in some cases, it is phototrophic and utilizes sunlight energy to make food. Therefore, mycobacterium avium is both a chemoheterotroph and a photoheterotroph.

What Mycobacterium Avium Eats

Mycobacterium avium is an opportunistic pathogen that targets individuals with compromised immunity, such as AIDS patients. It disrupts the action of macrophages and fuses with the endosomal vesicles that transport extracellular material to the interior environment of macrophages. Through this fusion, the bacterium obtains nutrients, particularly iron, in the form of transferrin-bound Fe (III) (Appelberg, 2006).

Conclusion

In summary, mycobacterium avium is an acid-fast, slowly growing microbe that combines heterotrophic, chemotrophic, and phototrophic modes of nutrition to affect its pathogenicity to its hosts. It is an opportunistic microorganism that feeds on nutrients, including iron, in the form of transferrin-bound Fe (III).

References

Appelberg, R. (2006). Pathogenesis of Mycobacterium avium Infection: Typical Responses to an Atypical Mycobacterium? Immunologic Research, 35(3), 179-190. doi: 10.1385/ir:35:3:179

Inderlied, C., Kemper, C., & Bermudez, L. (1993). The Mycobacterium avium complex. Clinical Microbiology Reviews, 6(3), 266-310. doi: 10.1128/cmr.6.3.266

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Mycobacterium avium

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