Is there a difference between Mycobacterium tuberculosis and tuberculosis?
mycobacterium tuberculosis causes the disease tuberculosis. It is a bad bacteria because it is so sneaky. I loves to get phagocytosed by the immune system (macrophages), where it basically hides and evades further attack by the immune system. The myciolic acid which coats it is really helpful in adherence to cell surfaces and prevents lysozyme (inside the macrophages) from killing the bacterium. It is an obligate bacteria, which means that it loves areas which are well-aerated and especially upper lobes of the lungs.
