Mycoplasma pulmonis infection in gnotobiotic and conventional mice: aspects of pathogenicity including microbial enumeration and studies of tracheal involvement.
Intranasal inoculation of Mycoplasma pulmonis into gnotobiotic mice resulted in positive cultures from the anterior nares, nasopharynx, trachea, and lungs persisting for 21 da. Similar inoculation of conventional, mycoplasma-free mice resulted in an increase in colony-forming units reaching a maximum by the 8th post-inoculation day and remaining constant in trachea and lungs through the 22nd day by an organ homogenate serial dilution method. All mice appeared ill with loss of total body weight, an increase in lung weight, and a peak of mortality between the 6th and 8th days. Between the 8th and 22nd, day, the number of deaths declined and survivors improved in appearance despite persistence of large numbers of colony-forming units in the trachea and lungs. M pulmonis was demonstrated in the trachea by immunofluorescence and electron microscopy.
D000818:Animals; D005856:Germ-Free Life; D008168:Lung / Q000382:microbiology; D051379:Mice; D009174:Mycoplasma / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009175:Mycoplasma Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D012376:Rodent Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D014132:Trachea / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure