Comparative study of two typing methods, hsp65 PRA and ITS sequencing, revealed a possible evolutionary link between Mycobacterium kansasii type I and II isolates.

One hundred and ninety-eight clinical isolates of Mycobacterium kansasii collected between 2003 and 2004 in Japan were genotyped by PCR and restriction enzyme analysis (PRA) and 16S-23S internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequencing. The results demonstrated that clinical isolates of M. kansasii in Japan are almost exclusively of the type I PRA genotype, as is the case in other countries. Although the results of subtyping using the 16S-23S ITS sequence were generally consistent with subtyping using hsp65 PRA, four strains showed a discrepancy between the two methods. Sequence analysis of the hsp65, gyrB and 16S rRNA genes and the ITS sequence of the four strains suggests that they branched from type II and could be considered an ancestral strain of the type I strain. The newly recognized strains were designated as intermediate type I.