Mycoplasma glycophilum, a new species of avian origin.
A mycoplasma, designated strain 486, was isolated from the oviduct of an adult chicken. On the basis of its morphological, physical and cultural characteristics the organism was assigned to the class Mollicutes, order Mycoplasmatales. The guanine plus cytosine content of its DNA was estimated to be 27.5 mol%. The organism was inhibited by digitonin and it showed a growth response to sterol, although its minimal requirement was low. It neither showed helical forms nor hydrolysed urea and was hence assigned to the family Mycoplasmataceae, genus Mycoplasma. Strain 486 fermented glucose and reduced tetrazolium under anaerobic conditions. It did not hydrolyse arginine, aesculin or arbutin, nor did it produce films and spots or digest serum. Phosphatase activity was negative or very weak, and the organism adsorbed turkey but not chicken red blood cells. Serological tests (growth inhibition, indirect fluorescent antibody, double immunodiffusion and metabolism inhibition) with 75 currently accepted Mycoplasma species or serovars failed to identify the isolate. Thus strain 486 appears to represent a new species, for which the name Mycoplasma glycophilum is proposed. (NCTC 10194, ATCC 35277).
D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens / Q000382:microbiology; D009174:Mycoplasma / Q000145:classification* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000648:ultrastructure; D012699:Serology