Revisited mycolic acid pattern of Mycobacterium confluentis using thin-layer chromatography

The profile of mycolic acids from Mycobacterium confluentis has not been adequately published. However, the definition of the composition of mycolic acids is a critical element for describing new mycobacterial species. Thus, an erroneously published profile can lead to confusing citations. The aim of this article is to make the protocols clear, by using thin layer chromatography as a tool, for defining the discrete pattern of mycolic acids of any newly reported mycobacterial species. By using this method, and corroborated using nuclear magnetic resonance analysis, we demonstrated that M. confluentis contains α-mycolates (type I) and epoxymycolates (type V mycolic acids).