title: Hemotropic mycoplasma infection in wild black bears (Ursus thibetanus japonicus).
abstract: This is the first report on Mycoplasma infection in wild bears. We report a novel hemotropic Mycoplasma (also called hemoplasma) detected in a free-ranging black bear (Ursus thibetanus japonicus) in Japan. We then used real-time PCR to look for hemoplasma DNA in blood samples collected from 15 bears and found that eight (53%) were positive. Among these eight PCR samples, seven showed a melting temperature of around 85.5°C, while the remaining one showed a single peak at 82.26°C. Almost the entire region of the 16S rRNA gene as well as the 16S-23S rRNA intergenic transcribed spacer (ITS) region from the sample that showed a melting temperature of 82.26°C was successfully amplified by means of end-point PCR. The nucleotide sequences of the 16S rRNA gene and the ITS region were then determined and compared with those of authentic Mycoplasma species. Our examinations revealed the presence of a novel hemoplasma in Japanese black bears.
authors: Department of Veterinary Microbiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Agriculture, Iwate University, Morioka 020-8550, Japan.
authors: Takehiro
authors: T
authors: Iso
authors: Jin
authors: J
authors: Suzuki
authors: Fumina
authors: F
authors: Sasaoka
authors: Hinako
authors: H
authors: Sashida
authors: Yusaku
authors: Y
authors: Watanabe
authors: Masatoshi
authors: M
authors: Fujihara
authors: Kazuya
authors: K
authors: Nagai
authors: Ryô
authors: R
authors: Harasawa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild / Q000382:microbiology*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000097:blood; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer / Q000235:genetics; D007564:Japan; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009174:Mycoplasma / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D009175:Mycoplasma Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D013045:Species Specificity; D001503:Ursidae
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S