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Updated: Jun 2, 2026

Deciphering and Imaging Pathogenesis and Cording of Mycobacterium abscessus in Zebrafish Embryos
Published on: September 9, 2015
Demonstration of cord formation by rough Mycobacterium abscessus variants: implications for the clinical microbiology
Alejandro Sánchez-Chardi1, Francesc Olivares, Thomas F Byrd
1Servei de Microscòpia Electrònica, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Barcelona, Spain.
Abstract:
In low-income countries some infections caused by nontuberculous mycobacteria are misdiagnosed as multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. In most of these settings the observation of microscopic cords is the only technique used to identify Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the laboratory. In this article we definitively demonstrate that Mycobacterium abscessus, an emerging pulmonary pathogen, also forms microscopic cords.
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