| ABSTRACT
Water is one of the important reservoirs of environmental mycobacteria (EM). The resistance against chlorine and biofilm formation
is among the important factors involved in colonization of these bacteria in water. Environmental mycobacteria cause different
types of diseases especially pulmonary diseases due to their transfer to humans. The isolation and identification of these bacteria
and the knowledge of how species are spread out as well as the identification of the dominant species in different geographical
regions are necessary to be paid attention to because of differences in strategies for treating diseases caused by them. Different
methods for isolating environmental mycobacteria have been employed by different researchers, but no standard method has been
suggested for this isolation yet. Therefore, in the present study, in addition to introducing an ideal protocol, other studies related to
the isolation of these bacteria from water resources were investigated, among which three top methods were selected and introduced.
In addition, effective factors such as the type and concentration of disinfectants, the type of water processing, the type of culture
medium, their pH, and incubation temperature involved in isolating bacteria are mentioned. Conclusion: using the filtration method
instead of centrifuge one, using disinfectant of the cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) instead of other disinfectants, using the
Löwenstein-Jensen culture medium with an acidic pH, incubation in temperature of 30° C and incubation duration are among factors
affecting in the isolation of environmental mycobacteria from the water sample. |