Proposal that the strains of the Mycoplasma ovine/caprine serogroup 11 be reclassified as Mycoplasma bovigenitalium

Abstract

This proposal is our response to the recommendation of the International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes (Subcommittee on the taxonomy of Mollicutes) that we`write a proposal to classify Mycoplasma bovigenitalium and ovine/caprine serogroup 11 as a single species'. Physiological and phylogenetic comparisons between 27 strains of M. bovigenitalium and Mycoplasma serogroup 11 showed that (i) growth and patterns of organic acid substrate use completely overlapped among strains; (ii) all had lipase and phosphatase activities; (iii) the strains were indistinguishable in their SDS±PAGE whole-cell protein profiles, which differed from five other species; (iv) strains were indistinguishable in immunoblotting of cell proteins and cross-reactivity in ELISA, but differed from other Mycoplasma species; (v) DNA±DNA hybridization did not distinguish between the two groups, and (vi) comparison of 16S and 23S rRNA gene sequences of ten strains of Mycoplasma serogroup 11 and six strains of M. bovigenitalium showed that they shared 98±100 % similarity across all strains tested, but only 86±95 % to other Mycoplasma species. Strains of the Mycoplasma ovine/caprine serogroup 11 must therefore be reassigned as Mycoplasma bovigenitalium.

Molecular characterisation of <i>Mycoplasma</i> species isolated from the genital tract of Dorper sheep in South Africa

“…One field isolate was identified as M. canadense , which has not previously been documented in sheep in SA. Similarly, there was a report of isolation of M. canadense and M. bovigenitalium as the cause of outbreaks of ulcerative posthitis in cattle in Israel (Nicholas et al 2008 ; Petit et al 2008 ). Mycoplasma canadense was also isolated from an unusual form of vulvitis in an outbreak affecting several heifers soon after introduction to a feedlot in SA (Gibson et al 2010 ).…”

“…These isolates shared serological relationships with the mycoides cluster. Appeals to classify these two organisms into a single species appeared in 2002, and were officially requested in a proposal published by Nicholas et al ( 2008 ).…”

Complete Genome Sequence of the Bovine Mastitis Pathogen Mycoplasma californicum Strain ST-6T(ATCC 33461T)

“…M. californicum and the most closely related organism Mycoplasma bovigenitalium (13) are unusual among Mycoplasma species in that both possess a gene encoding the tryptophan synthase beta-subunit (TrpB). In most organisms that contain TrpB, this protein functions as an α 2 β 2 tetramer with TrpA (14).…”

Draft Genome Sequences of Mycoplasma alkalescens, Mycoplasma arginini, and Mycoplasma bovigenitalium, Three Species with Equivocal Pathogenic Status for Cattle

“…However, its pathogenicity has never been established (9), and this species is best known as a frequent contaminant of eukaryotic cell cultures (10). M. bovigenitalium , characterized in 1955 (11), comprises the strains of the Mycoplasma ovine/caprine serogroup 11, reassigned in 2008 (12). It has been associated with reproductive disorders in ruminants (2, 13, 14) and has proven to induce pneumonia in gnotobiotic calves (9).…”