The Isolation of Mycoplasma from Bovine Lungs and Nasal Swabs

Genome-Wide Analysis of Mycoplasma bovirhinis GS01 Reveals Potential Virulence Factors and Phylogenetic Relationships

Mycoplasma bovirhinis is a significant etiology in bovine pneumonia and mastitis, but our knowledge about the genetic and pathogenic mechanisms of M. bovirhinis is very limited. In this study, we sequenced the complete genome of M. bovirhinis strain GS01 isolated from the nasal swab of pneumonic calves in Gansu, China, and we found that its genome forms a 847,985 bp single circular chromosome with a GC content of 27.57% and with 707 protein-coding genes. The putative virulence determinants of M. bovirhinis were then analyzed. Results showed that three genomic islands and 16 putative virulence genes, including one adhesion gene enolase, seven surface lipoproteins, proteins involved in glycerol metabolism, and cation transporters, might be potential virulence factors. Glycerol and pyruvate metabolic pathways were defective. Comparative analysis revealed remarkable genome variations between GS01 and a recently reported HAZ141_2 strain, and extremely low homology with others mycoplasma species. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that M. bovirhinis was most genetically close to M. canis, distant from other bovine Mycoplasma species. Genomic dissection may provide useful information on the pathogenic mechanisms and genetics of M. bovirhinis.

Evaluation of effects of Mycoplasma mastitis on milk composition in dairy cattle from South Australia

BACKGROUND

Mycoplasma mastitis is increasingly posing significant impact on dairy industry. Although the effects of major conventional mastitis pathogens on milk components has been widely addressed in the literature, limited data on the effects of different Mycoplasma and Acholeplasma spp. on milk quality and quantity is available. The aim of this study was to determine the casual relationship of Mycoplasma spp. and A. laidlawii to mastitis and compare them to subclinical mastitis caused by conventional mastitis pathogens from a single dairy herd in South Australia; Mycoplasma spp. and A. laidlawii were detected using PCR applied directly to milk samples. The herd had mastitis problem with high somatic cell count and low response rate to conventional antimicrobial therapy. A total of 288 cow-level milk samples were collected aseptically and used in this study.

RESULTS

Conventional culture showed a predominance of coagulase-negative staphylococci, followed by coagulase-positive staphylococci, Streptococcus spp., Enterococcus spp., E. coli, and Klebsiella spp. PCR results showed a high prevalence of mycoplasmas (76.7%), including A. laidlawii (10.8%), M. bovis (6.2%), M. bovirhinis (5.6%), M. arginini (2%), and (52.1%) of cows were co-infected with two or more Mycoplasma and Acholeplasma species. Mycoplasma co-infection significantly increased somatic cell counts (SCC) similar to conventional mastitis pathogens and compared to non-infected cows with 389.3, 550.3 and 67.3 respectively; and decreased the milk yield with 29.0, 29.9 and 34.4 l, respectively. Mycoplasma co-infection caused significant increase in protein percentage, and significant decrease in fat percentage and total milk solids, similar to other conventional mastitis pathogens. In contrast, changes in milk composition and yield caused by various individual Mycoplasma species were non-significant.

CONCLUSIONS

Mycoplasma mastitis had on-farm economic consequences similar to common conventional mastitis pathogens. Results of our study indicate that co-infection Mycoplasma mastitis caused similar effect on milk composition to other mastitis pathogens and we hope these findings raise the awareness of the importance of their detection on routine diagnostic panels.

Identification of Mycoplasmatales in pneumonic calf lungs

Lungs from 153 calves with clinical signs of pneumonia were examined post-mortem (PM) for the presence of mycoplasmas and ureaplasmas during a 38-month period. Sixty-two percent of the cases were submitted during the months when wide fluctuations in climatic conditions occur. Using indirect fluorescent antibody tests (IFAT) and culture, mycoplasmas and/or ureaplasmas were detected in 63% of the lungs examined. Mycoplasma dispar was detected in 39%, M. bovis in 36%, Ureaplasma spp. in 22% and M. bovirhinis in 8.5% of the lungs. Thirty percent of the lungs were infected with more than one species; the most frequent combination was M. bovis, M. dispar and Ureaplasma spp. (10.5%). M. arginini, M. bovigenitalium and acholeplasmas were not cultured. M. dispar was shown to remain viable for up to 15 days PM in apical and cardiac lobes held at 4 degrees C and also was detected by IFAT in the same tissues for 49 days.

Prevalence of Mycoplasma and Chlamydia in the nasal flora of dairy calves

Nasal swabs from dairy calves in 20 selected herds were collected once in each of three sampling periods in one year and cultured for mycoplasmas and chlamydiae. Seventy-seven of 411 calves (19%) and 16 of 20 herds (80%) were positive for mycoplasmas at least once throughout the year, and all of 378 calves sampled from the 20 herds were negative for chlamydiae. Thirty-one percent of the isolates were Mycoplasma bovirhinis; other species isolated less frequently were Mycoplasma bovis, Mycoplasma arginini, and Acholeplasma laidlawaii. There was no evidence of respiratory tract disease at the time of sampling in calves studied.

Physiological and serological comparisons among strains of Mycoplasma granularum and Mycoplasma laidlawii

Mycoplasma granularum strains grew on a medium devoid of animal serum or of serum fractions containing sterols; all strains possessed properties, including carotenoid biosynthesis, similar to those described for M. laidlawii. Some common antigenic components were noted among M. granularum and M. laidlawii strains by indirect fluorescent-antibody tests. The growth of M. granularum strains was slightly inhibited by antiserum to M. laidlawii PG-8, and the electrophoretic patterns of cell proteins of the M. granularum strains showed a close resemblance to that of M. laidlawii. However, direct fluorescent-antibody procedures performed on colonies grown on a serum-free medium clearly distinguished M. granularum from M. laidlawii. The occurrence of nonsterol-requiring mycoplasmas, in addition to M. laidlawii, raises questions as to the taxonomy of M. granularum and of the saprophytic mycoplasmas in general.