Effect of glycerol on viability and other properties of starved Mycobacterium fortuitum.

Cells of Mycobacterium fortuitum kept in 0.85% saline solution containing 0.1% Tween 80 (without glycerol) survive for a long time. In glycerol-enriched medium, they continue to lose their viability at a high rate; after 71 days of exposure the percentage of survival as indicated by colony formation and respiratory and dehydrogenase activities is lower than 1%. Surviving cells starved in medium without glycerol revealed unchanged sensitivity to streptomycin, p-aminosalicylic acid, and isoniazid.