A 60-year-old man with a chronic cough, bloody sputum, and marked weight loss is diagnosed as having tuberculosis. A "serpentine-like" colonial morphology is noted on Lowenstein-Jensen agar. This latter finding is caused by which of the following factors?
Ans. D. Cord factora. Virulent strains of M. tuberculosis grow in a characteristic "serpentine" cordlike pattern, whereas avirulent strains do not.b. Virulence of the organism is correlated with cord factor (trehalosedimycolate).
A large "slimy" capsule
Wax D
Coagulase
Cord factor
Bacteria