Deoxyribonucleic acid relatedness among species of rapidly growing mycobacteria

The DNA-DNA homology percentages obtained in this study indicate M. smegmatis, M. phlei, M. fortuitum, M. peregrinum, M. senegalense, M. farcinogenes, M. chelonei, M. parafortuitum, M. vaccae, M. diernhoferi and M. aurum are separate species. Taxonomically there is no justification for the designation M. fortuitum complex, and M. peregrinum should be revived as an independent species. The type strains of M. parafortuitum, M. vaccae, M. aurum and the non-valid M. diernhoferi are so distinct from each other that they should not be combined.