identification; colonies were collected and prepared using the previously described protocol and then applied to a MALDI-TOF-MS 96 Microflex target (Bruker Daltonic) (El Khe´chine et al.; 2011). Further, an aliquot of soil inoculated for 12 months with M. tuberculosis was filtered at 5 mm to remove large particles, and mycobacteria were observed by optical microscopy after Ziehl– Neelsen staining and by electron microscopy.