DETECTION OF MYCOBACTERIUM ON GROWTH MEDIA

Abstract

To determine the presence of Mycobacterium in an environment, a sample from the environment can be plated onto a growth medium that is selective for Mycobacterium. The agar based growth medium can include a high concentration of crystal violet, in excess of 0.5 μg/ml. The process may be made further selective for Mycobacterium by treating the sample with sodium dodecyl sulfate containing glycine hydrochloride for at least 4 minutes at room temperature, prior to plating. Mycobacterium colonies will generally appear white while other colonies will generally appear stained purple or another color.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to methods and compositions used in detecting bacteria.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The Problem of Mycobacterium

Mycobacterium is a genus of acid-fast bacteria that encompasses approximately 200 species. This genus includes serious human pathogens such as the causative agents of tuberculosis and leprosy. While Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium leprae are more globally known and studied, another category of Mycobacterium, called non-tuberculous Mycobacterium (NTM), is emerging as a significant threat to public health. In some places, NTM infections cause a greater disease burden than tuberculosis.

NTM exist ubiquitously in most environments and have recently gained interest as a frequent cause of infection. NTM infections most commonly lead to pulmonary disease; other possible infections include lymphadenitis, skin infections, and disseminated disease. Importantly, immunocompromised individuals are far more susceptible to NTM than most individuals. Treatment for mycobacterial infections are often lengthy, expensive, and extremely harsh on the patient, therefore early detection and prevention are imperative as control measures.

NTM infections have not been shown to transmit person to person. Most infections thus far have been traced to the environment, predominantly from water through aerosol inhalation and aspiration. Alarmingly, many clinical cases have been traced to potable water systems, including municipal drinking water and hospital water.

Limitations of Growth Media and Current Diagnostics for Mycobacterium

Currently, the most commonly used media for the growth of Mycobacterium are Lowenstein-Jensen (LJ) media, R2A media, and Middlebrook media (including 7H9, 7H10, and 7H11). Culture plates remain the “gold standard” for identifying mycobacterial infections or contamination (ASTM, 2015). Since water and/or clinical samples from which Mycobacterium are isolated are frequently contaminated with other bacteria, and since Mycobacterium grow much slower than average bacteria, isolating them from samples can be difficult as current media offer little differentiation and selection for them (Radomski et al., 2010).

Diagnostics for Mycobacterium, especially NTM, are severely limited, expensive, and time-consuming. The standard Mycobacterium diagnostics include spread-plating a sample onto a limited nutrient agar plate, often with antibacterial ingredients to inhibit non-mycobacterial growth and allow for easier selection of the bacteria.

Current decontamination or pretreatment steps utilized to isolate Mycobacterium from overgrown samples involve harsh reagents and complicated procedures that can significantly inhibit the growth of multiple species of Mycobacterium. For example, Cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) is widely used to decontaminate water samples to aid in the isolation of Mycobacterium. Recent studies show that sample pretreatment of CPC can significantly reduce the growth of clinically important Mycobacterium species such as M. abscessus. Another pretreatment used on samples is the reagent N-acetyl-1-cysteine-sodium hydroxide (NALC-NaOH). Pretreatment with this reagent requires a complex protocol (i.e. time-consuming incubations and centrifugations) that can take up to over an hour per sample.

What is required are improved techniques and products for detecting and differentiating Mycobacterium.

SUMMARY OF ONE EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

Advantages of One or More Embodiments of the Present Invention

The various embodiments of the present invention may, but do not necessarily, achieve one or more of the following advantages:

the ability to differentiate Mycobacterium from other bacteria;

the ability to detect non tuberculous Mycobacterium (NTM);

provide a novel growth medium for Mycobacterium;

provide a pretreatment method for enhancing positive detection of Mycobacterium;

provide a more cost-effective method for detection of Mycobacterium.

These and other advantages may be realized by reference to the remaining portions of the specification, claims, and abstract.

Brief Description of One Embodiment of the Present Invention

In one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for determining the presence of Mycobacterium in a sample. The method may include obtaining a sample from the environment. A portion of the sample may be plated onto a growth medium and incubated for an incubation period. After the incubation period, an inspection of one or more bacterial growth colonies may determine the presence of Mycobacterium in the environment. The growth medium may comprise an agar based growth medium comprising agar, one or more amino acid and nitrogenous supplementation elements, one or more trace elements and vitamins, one or more carbon sources, one or more neutralizing agents, and crystal violet. The crystal violet may be provided in an amount in excess of 0.5 μg/ml.

In one embodiment, the crystal violet may be provided in an amount in excess of 1.0 μg/ml. In one embodiment, the crystal violet may be provided in an amount in excess of 1.5 μg/ml. In one embodiment, the crystal violet may be provided in an amount in excess of 2.0 μg/ml.

In one embodiment, the sample may be treated with sodium dodecyl sulfate containing glycine hydrochloride prior to plating.

8 In one aspect, there is provided a method for determining the presence of Mycobacterium in a sample. The method may include obtaining a sample from the environment. The sample may be treated with sodium dodecyl sulfate containing glycine hydrochloride and then plated onto a growing medium. After an incubation period, an inspection of one or more bacterial growth colonies on the growth medium may determine the presence of Mycobacterium in the environment.

In one embodiment, the growing medium may be an agar based growth medium comprising agar, one or more amino acid and nitrogenous supplementation elements, one or more trace elements and vitamins, one or more carbon sources, one or more neutralizing agents and crystal violet for differentiating non-Mycobacterium from Mycobacterium The crystal violet may be provided in an amount in excess of 0.5 μg/ml.

In one aspect, there is provided a growth medium for the growth of Mycobacterium. The growth medium may include agar, one or more amino acid and nitrogenous supplementation elements, one or more trace elements and vitamins, one or more carbon sources, one or more neutralizing agents and crystal violet for differentiating non-Mycobacterium from Mycobacterium. The crystal violet may be provided in an amount in excess of 0.5 μg/ml.

The above description sets forth, rather broadly, a summary of one embodiment of the present invention so that the detailed description that follows may be better understood and contributions of the present invention to the art may be better appreciated. Some of the embodiments of the present invention may not include all of the features or characteristics listed in the above summary. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described below and will form the subject matter of claims. In this respect, before explaining at least one preferred embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of the construction and to the arrangement of the components set forth in the following description or as illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 substantially depicts a comparison of a limited nutrient growth media and MYChrOme media on which Mycobacterium have been grown;

FIG. 2 substantially depicts a series of growth plates of different growth media and pretreatment on which Mycobacterium have been grown

FIG. 3 substantially depicts a flowchart of a method for detecting presence of Mycobacterium in an environment; and

FIG. 4 substantially depicts a flowchart of an alternative method for detecting presence of Mycobacterium in an environment.

DESCRIPTION OF CERTAIN EMBODIMENTS OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

In the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this application. The drawings show, by way of illustration, specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

To aid the detection and differentiation of Mycobacterium colonies, there is provided a growth media formulation that is able to target strains of Mycobacterium, in particular non-tuberculosis Mycobacterium (NTM). For ease of reference throughout the remainder of this specification, the growing media will be referred to by the present Applicant's proprietary term MYChrOme™. The growth media formulation for MYChrOme includes a limited nutrient media containing an unusually high amount of crystal violet. Examples of the limited nutrient media include R2A, Middlebrook agar, and Plate Count Agar. Components of the nutrient media may include combinations of proteose peptone, casamino acids, yeast extract, dextrose, soluble starch, dipotassium phosphate, magnesium sulfate, sodium pyruvate, and agar. In one embodiment, the crystal violet may be added to the media in an amount of 0.5-5.0 μg/ml. In one embodiment, the concentration of crystal violet in the growing medium is at least 1.0 μg/ml. In one embodiment, the concentration of crystal violet in the growing medium is at least 1.5 μg/ml. In one embodiment, the concentration of crystal violet in the growing medium is at least 2.0 μg/ml.

In one specific example, the growth medium may contain an agar based compound. The growth medium may include one or more amino acid and nitrogenous supplementation elements, one or more trace elements and vitamins, one or more carbon sources, one or more neutralizing agents and crystal violet for differentiating non-Mycobacterium from Mycobacterium.

In one embodiment, the crystal violet may be provided in an amount of 0.5-5 μg/ml.

In one embodiment, the growth medium may include 0.25-1.5 g/L of proteose peptone and 0.25-1.5 g/L casamino acids to provide necessary amino acids and nitrogenous supplementation, 0.25-1.5 g/L yeast extract to boost growth and as a supply of trace elements and vitamins, 0.25-1.5 g/L dextrose as a carbon source, 0.25-1.5 g/L soluble starch as a neutralizing agent.

In addition, the growth medium may include 0.1-1.0 g/L sodium pyruvate to aid the growth of stressed microbes, 0.01-1.0 g/L magnesium sulfate and 0.1-1.0 g/L dipotassium phosphate to maintain osmotic equilibrium.

Agar may be provided as the solidifying agent in an amount of 10-20 g/L.

Bacteria-containing samples can be inoculated onto this growth media. In a liquid formulation the purple-pigmented media will turn colorless in the presence of Mycobacterium. In a solid formulation the media causes Mycobacterium to grow white colonies (or retain their original pigment) while most other bacteria grow purple colonies, allowing for rapid identification of Mycobacterium, especially in samples that may be heavily contaminated with competing microbiota. That Mycobacterium can survive with such high concentrations of crystal violet was unforeseen and unexpected. Furthermore, it was unforeseen that most other bacteria tested could not metabolize the crystal violet.

To further facilitate the identification of the Mycobacterium, a sample that has been obtained from the environment and filter concentrated can be treated, prior to plating, with a compound that is selective for Mycobacterium. In one embodiment, the treatment compound comprises a final concentration of 1-5 mM glycine hydrochloride and 0.1%-1.0% sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). This compound, which will be referred to throughout this specification by the present Applicant's proprietary term MYCOn™, has surprisingly been found to inhibit the growth of all bacteria and fungus tested thus far other than Mycobacterium. MYCOn may be added to the filtered concentrate prior to plating and left for 5 minutes at room temperature. The MYCOn-treated concentrate may then be inoculated onto the MYChrOme growth medium.

Environmental testing of approximately 318 water samples from a medical center was conducted to beta-test these diagnostics. The MYChrOme method was compared to a modified version of the ASTM E2563-07 Standard, in addition to plating on 7H10 or R2A agar. Water samples (100-200 ml) collected from each test location were filter-concentrated to 10 ml and 100 μl of the filter-concentrate was plated on both R2A or 7H10 and MYChrOme. A portion of this filter concentrate was also treated with MYCOn (SDS containing glycine hydrochloride) for five minutes, followed by plating on MYChrOme. The modified ASTM standard E2563-07 was also used to analyze each sample with plating onto 7H11 selective agar. Table 1 shows the comparison of MYChrOme detections vs. ASTM detections and demonstrates that MYChrOme is 62.8% more sensitive than the standard method.

TABLE 1
MYChrOme method vs ASTM E2563-07 method. Three hundred
and eighteen (318) water samples from a healthcare
facility were analyzed with the MYChrOme method
and a modified ASTM E2563-07 method.
	MYChrOme Method	ASTM Method
Number of Positive Samples	204	76
Percent Positive	64.2%	23.9%

FIG. 1, comprising FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B, shows plating examples that demonstrate the benefits of the methods described herein. FIG. 1A shows a bacteria containing sample grown on 7H10 growth media. In this example, bacteria are present but different types of bacteria are indistinct from each other. That is, there was no differentiation of Mycobacterium, and Mycobacterium-positive water samples were therefore much more difficult to identify. FIG. 1B shows the sample plated onto MYChrOme media. All non-colorized colonies (mostly white colonies) were acid-fast positive and confirmed to be Mycobacterium on MYChrOme, while all colonies colorized by the crystal violet dye (purple) were acid-fast negative. An additional molecular screening of the aforementioned colonies by real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction confirmed the acid-fast positive colonies as Mycobacterium and the acid-fast negative colonies as bacteria other than Mycobacterium.

FIG. 2, comprising FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2C, shows comparison of a sample plated on 7H10 (FIG. 2A), MYChrOme (FIG. 2B) and MYChrOme with MYCOn pretreatment (FIG. 2C). In this example, only Mycobacterium species grew while all other bacterial growth was eliminated. FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 show the MYChrOme media is an optimal growth medium for identifying the presence of Mycobacterium and that further benefits are achieved by pre-treatment with MYCOn.

Table 2 below provides a summary of Mycobacterium species tested on MYChrOme. The colony color of different Mycobacterium species plated MYChrOme media are listed.

TABLE 2
Table 2. Inclusivity organisms
				Colony Color
Genus	Species	Source	Origin	on MYChrOme
Mycobacterium	abscessus	FDAa 858508-1	Not available	white
Mycobacterium	abscessus	FDA 923093-1075	Not available	white
Mycobacterium	abscessus subsp	CCUG 71636b	Human blood	white
	abscessus
Mycobacterium	abscessus subsp.	CCUG 50184	Human bronchial	white
	bolletii		lavage
Mycobacterium	abscessus subsp.	CCUG 48898	Human sputum	light purplish
	massiliense			white
Mycobacterium	agri	CCUG 37673	Soil	white
Mycobacterium	aubagnense	CCUG 50186	Human bronchial	white
			aspirate
Mycobacterium	aurum	CCUG 70546	Soil	yellow
Mycobacterium	barrassiae	CCUG 50398	Human bronchial	white
			lavage
Mycobacterium	boenickei	CCUG 47580	Human wound	white
Mycobacterium	brisbanense	CCUG 47584	Antral sinus	white
Mycobacterium	canariasense	CCUG 47953	Human blood	white
Mycobacterium	chelonae	PHEc	Not Available	white
Mycobacterium	chelonae	Phigenicsd	Env. Isolate	white
Mycobacterium	chelonae	CCUG 72969	Human eye	white
Mycobacterium	chelonae	CCUG 37827	Human wound	white
Mycobacterium	chelonae	FDA 858509-1-1-1	Not available	white
Mycobacterium	chelonae	FDA 858509-2-3-2	Not available	white
Mycobacterium	cosmeticum	CCUG 55442	Human feces	white
Mycobacterium	fortuitum	PHE	Not Available	white
Mycobacterium	fortuitum	ATCC 6841	Cold abscess	white
Mycobacterium	fortuitum	FDA 858508-10	Not available	white
Mycobacterium	fortuitum	FDA 923093-1278	Not available	white
Mycobacterium	fortuitum subsp.	CCUG 46694	Human blood	white
	fortuitum
Mycobacterium	franklinii	Phigenics	Env. Isolate	white
Mycobacterium	gadium	CCUG 37515	Human sputum	white
Mycobacterium	goodii	CCUG 5204	Human blood	white
Mycobacterium	hodleri	CCUG 38151	Chemical	white
			contaminate
Mycobacterium	immunogenum	Phigenics	Env. Isolate	white
Mycobacterium	immunogenum	CCUG 52935	Water for	white
			injection
Mycobacterium	iranicum	CCUG 52297	Human sputum	white
Mycobacterium	mageritense	CCUG 51275	Human calf	white
Mycobacterium	mucogenicum	Phigenics	Env. Isolate	white
Mycobacterium	mucogenicum	FDA 858510-2	Not available	white
Mycobacterium	mucogenicum	FDA 858510-4	Not available	white
Mycobacterium	mucogenicum	FDA 858510-9	Not available	white
Mycobacterium	neoaurum	Phigenics	Env. Isolate	yellow
Mycobacterium	peregrinum	CCUG 41354	Human bronchial	white
			aspiration
Mycobacterium	phocaicum	Phigenics	Env. Isolate	white
Mycobacterium	phocaicum	CCUG 50185	Human bronchial	white
			aspirate
Mycobacterium	phocaicum	FDA 858510-1	Not available	white
Mycobacterium	porcinum	Phigenics	Env. Isolate	white
Mycobacterium	porcinum	CCUG 37674	Swine lymph node	white
Mycobacterium	senegalense	CCUG 59339	Human sputum	white
Mycobacterium	septicum	CCUG 47583	Not available	white
Mycobacterium	smegmatis	ATCC 14468e	Not available	white
Mycobacterium	wolinskyi	CCUG 47168	Human abscess	white
aUS Food and Drug Administration, Irvine, CA;
bCCUG-Culture Collection University of Gothenburg, Goteborg, Sweden;
cPublic Health England, London, England;
dPhigenics Culture Collection, Reno, NV;
eAmerican Type Culture Collection, Manassas, VA.

Table 3 below provides a summary of non-Mycobacterium species tested on MYChrOme. The colony color of different Non-Mycobacterium species plated on MYChrOme media, with and without MYCOn decontamination, are listed. Greater than 10⁸ CFU/ml of each non-Mycobacterium was plated.

TABLE 3
Table 3. Exclusivity organisms.
				Colony Color	Colony Color
				on MYChrOme	on MYChrOme
Genus	Species	Source	Origin	Untreated	Treated
Acinetobacter	baumannii	NCIMB 12457a	Urine	Purple	Not Detected
Aeromonas	hydrophila	ATCC 35654b	Not Available	Purple	Not Detected
Alcaligenes	faecalis	ATCC 35655	Not Available	Purple	Not Detected
Bacillus	subtilis	ATCC 14990	Nose	Not Detected	Not Detected
Burkholderia	cepacia	ATCC 25608	Incision wound	Purple	Not Detected
Chryseobacterium	shigense	ATCC 51823	Milk	Purple	Dark purple/
					maroon
Elizabethkingia	meningoseptica	ATCC 13253	Spinal fluid	Purple	Not Detected
Escherichia	coli	ATCC 10536	Not Available	Purple	Not Detected
Klebsiella	aerogenes	ATCC 13048	Sputum	Purple	Not Detected
Klebsiella	pneumonia	NCTC 13340c	Not Available	Purple	Not Detected
Legionella	anisa	Phigenicsd	Env. Isolate	Not Detected	Not Detected
Legionella	birminghamensis	CCUG 31233	Human lung	Purple	Not Detected
			biopsy
Legionella	bozemanii	CCUG 16416	Lung aspirate	Not Detected	Not Detected
Legionella	feelei	CCUG 29668	Human lung	Dark Grey	Not Detected
			tissue
Legionella	jordansis	CCUG 16413	Jordan river	Not Detected	Not Detected
Legionella	longbeachae	ATCC 33462	Human lung	Not Detected	Not Detected
Legionella	pneumophila sg 1	CCUG 9568T	Human lung	Not Detected	Not Detected
Legionella	pneumophila sg 7	ATCC 33823	Human lung	Not Detected	Not Detected
Legionella	sainthelensi	CCUG 29672T	Stream Water	Not Detected	Not Detected
Legionella	wadsworthii	CCUG 16415T	Human sputum	Not Detected	Not Detected
Methylobacterium	spp.	Phigenics	Env. Isolate	Not Detected	Not Detected
Microbacterium	oxydans/	Phigenics	Env. Isolate	Not Detected	Not Detected
	maritypicum
Nocardia	brasiliensis	ATCC 19296	Not Available	Off White	Not Detected
Pseudomonas	aeruginosa	ATCC 27853	Blood	Purple	Purple
Pseudomonas	fragi	ATCC 51821	Milk	Purple	Not Detected
Pseudomonas	mosseli	ATCC 49838	Not Available	Purple	Not Detected
Pseudomonas	stutzeri	ATCC 17588	Spinal fluid	Purple	Not Detected
Sphingomonas	paucimobilis	ATCC 29837	Hospital	Purple	Not Detected
			respirator
Staphylococcus	aureus	ATCC 25923	Clinical	Purple	Not Detected
Stenotrophomonas	maltophilia	ATCC 17666	Tissue culture	Purple	Not Detected
aNational Collection of Industrial, Food and Marine Bacteria, Aberdeen, Scotland;
bAmerican Type Culture Collection, Manassas, VA.;
cNational Type Culture Collection, Salisbury, England;
dPhigenics Culture Collection, Reno, Nevada

Tables 2 and 3 demonstrate that the MYChrOme medium is useful for distinguishing many types of Mycobacterium from other types of bacteria.

FIG. 3 shows a flowchart 200 of a method for determining the presence of Mycobacterium in a sample. At step 202, a sample is obtained from an environment. The environment may be any environment, e.g. residential, industrial, rural, medical, etc. The environment may also be a clinical environment for testing of clinical samples. The sample may undergo preparation steps 204. For example, the sample may be filter concentrated. At step 206, the prepared sample is plated onto one or more plates of a growth media of MYChrOme. The plating process may include a dipslide process as described in the Applicant's granted patent application U.S. Pat. No. 7,901,932, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. The plated samples may be allowed to incubate for an incubation period 208. For example, the incubation period may be 1-6 weeks. An inspection 210 of the plates can then determine the presence of Mycobacterium. The Mycobacterium may be revealed as substantially white colonies on the growth media.

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart 300 of an enhanced method for determining the presence of Mycobacterium in a sample. At step 302, a sample is obtained from an environment. The sample may undergo one or more processing steps 304. For example, the sample may be filter concentrated. At step 306 the sample is treated with MYCOn containing sodium dodecyl sulfate containing glycine hydrochloride. At step 308, the sample is plated onto one or more plates of a growth media. The growth media may be MYChrOme though other growth media may be suitable. The growth medium is then incubated for an incubation period 310. For example, the incubation period may be 1-6 weeks. An inspection 312 of the plate(s) can then determine the presence of Mycobacterium.

Many modifications and other implementations of the disclosure set forth herein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which this disclosure pertains having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that the disclosure is not to be limited to the specific implementations disclosed, and that modifications and other implementations are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Moreover, although the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings describe example implementations in the context of certain example combinations of elements and/or functions, it should be appreciated that different combinations of elements and/or functions may be provided by alternative implementations without departing from the scope of the appended claims. In this regard, for example, different combinations of elements and/or functions than those explicitly described above are also contemplated as may be set forth in some of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.

Claims

1. A method for determining the presence of Mycobacterium in a sample, comprising: (A) obtaining a sample from the environment;(B) plating at least a portion of the sample onto a growth medium;(C) incubating a plated sample for an incubation period; and(D) after the incubation period, inspecting one or more bacterial growth colonies to determine the presence of Mycobacterium in the environment;(E) wherein the growth medium comprises agar, one or more amino acid and nitrogenous supplementation elements, one or more trace elements and vitamins, one or more carbon sources, one or more neutralizing agents, and crystal violet, wherein the crystal violet is in an amount in excess of 0.5 μg/ml.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the crystal violet is in an amount in excess of 1.0 μg/ml.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the crystal violet is in an amount in excess of 2.0 μg/ml.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the crystal violet is in an amount of 0.5-5.0 μg/ml.

5. The method of claim 1 comprising treating the sample with sodium dodecyl sulfate containing glycine hydrochloride prior to plating.

6. The method of claim 5 comprising treating the sample with sodium dodecyl sulfate containing glycine hydrochloride for at least 4 minutes at room temperature.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the growth medium comprises proteose peptone, casamino acids, yeast extract, dextrose, soluble starch, dipotassium phosphate, magnesium sulfate, and sodium pyruvate.

8. A method for determining the presence of Mycobacterium in a sample, comprising: (A) obtaining a sample from the environment;(B) treating the sample with sodium dodecyl sulfate containing glycine hydrochloride;(C) plating the sample treated with sodium dodecyl sulfate containing glycine hydrochloride onto a growing medium;(D) incubating a plated sample for an incubation period; and(E) after the incubation period, inspecting one or more bacterial growth colonies to determine the presence of Mycobacterium in the environment.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the growth medium comprising agar, one or more amino acid and nitrogenous supplementation elements, one or more trace elements and vitamins, one or more carbon sources, one or more neutralizing agents, and crystal violet, wherein the crystal violet is in an amount in excess of 0.5 μg/ml.

10. The method of claim 8 wherein the crystal violet is in an amount in excess of 1.0 μg/ml.

11. The method of claim 8 wherein the crystal violet is in an amount in excess of 2.0 μg/ml.

12. The method of claim 8 wherein the crystal violet is in an amount of 0.5-5.0 μg/ml.

13. The method of claim 8 comprising treating the sample with sodium dodecyl sulfate containing glycine hydrochloride prior to plating.

14. The method of claim 8 wherein the growth medium comprises combinations of proteose peptone, casamino acids, yeast extract, dextrose, soluble starch, dipotassium phosphate, magnesium sulfate, and sodium pyruvate.

15. The method of claim 8 comprising treating the sample with sodium dodecyl sulfate containing glycine hydrochloride for at least 4 minutes at room temperature.

16. A growth medium for the growth of Mycobacterium, the growth medium comprising agar, one or more amino acid and nitrogenous supplementation elements, one or more trace elements and vitamins, one or more carbon sources, one or more neutralizing agents and crystal violet for differentiating non-Mycobacterium from Mycobacterium, wherein the crystal violet is in an amount in excess of 0.5 μg/ml.

17. The growth medium of claim 16 wherein the crystal violet is in an amount in excess of 1.0 μg/ml.

18. The growth medium of claim 16 wherein the crystal violet is in an amount in excess of 2.0 μg/ml.

19. The growth medium of claim 16 wherein the crystal violet is in an amount of 0.5-5.0 μg/ml.

20. The growth medium of claim 16 comprising proteose peptone, casamino acids, yeast extract, dextrose, soluble starch, dipotassium phosphate, magnesium sulfate, and sodium pyruvate.