Mycoplasmas species - Overview
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Overview
- Pathogens belong to the Mycoplasma and Ureaplasma genera
- Cause many diseases especially respiratory diseases of farm animals including contagious bovine pleuropneumonia
- Can be involved in mastitis and conjunctivitis in cattle
- Implicated in respiratory and urinary tract diseases in dogs and cats
- Non-pathogenic mycoplasmas present in the rumen
- Live on mucous membranes of oronasal cavity, conjunctiva and intestines
- Stress factors and concurrent disease may predispose to tissue invasion
- Usually host-specific
- Limited survival in the environment
Characteristics
- Smallest free-living prokaryotic organism
- Pleomorphic organisms
- Have no peptidoglycan cell wall
- Susceptible to dessication, heat and disinfectants
- Require enriched media containing animal protein, sterol and a source of DNA for growth
- Colonies have a fried egg appearance
- Most are facultative anaerobes
Pathogenesis and pathogenicity
- Mycoplasmas adhere to host cells and produce toxins
- Some adhere to neutrophils and macrophages and prevent phagocytosis
- Mycoplasmas induce proliferation of macrophages and [[monocytes]], and release of cytokines such as TNF and interleukins
- Cause damage to cilia in the respiratory tract leading to pneumonia
- Molecular mimicry allows some mycoplasmas to avoid the host immune response and may initiate immune-mediated disease
Diagnosis
- Samples can be tested for the presence of mycoplasmas by fluorescent antibody techniques, peroxidase techniques and PCR
- Biochemical profiles such as urease production can be used for identification
- Ureaplasmas produce urease, whereas Mycoplasmas do not metabolise urea
- Serolgy is required for specific identification including complement fixation tests, ELISA, agglutination tests and haemagglutination-inhibition tests
- Growth inhibition tests using specific antisera can be used as well as fluorescent antibody tests
Other mycoplasmas
- M. bovis, M. dispar and Ureaplasma can be involved in Enzootic pneumonia of calves
- M. ovipneumoniae is implicated in enzootic pneumonia of lambs
- M. felis may be involved in mild respiratory infection
- Mycoplasmas may cause lymphocytic chronic inflammation (peribronchiolar and perialveolar cuffing)
- Cause peritonitis in sheep, peritonitis in goats and peritonitis in pigs
cattle
- Mycoplasma spp.
- May be respinsible for some chronic cases but difficult to prove as hard to isolate
- Fibrinous polyarthritis
- Mycoplasma spp.