MYCOPLASMOSIS

Mycoplasma organisms are the smallest free living, lack of cell-wall and bounded by a triple layer of plasma membrane. The organisms are pleuomorphic in shape, viz. cocci, filamentus, rings or stellate. They are gram-negative and best stained with Giemsa stain. They are fastidious in growth, needs sterol in the growth medium and most of the strains are aerobic but few need an atmosphere of 10% CO2. More than 200 mycoplasmal species are obligate parasites and significant pathogens of vertebrate
hosts.

Numbe r of impo rta nt myc op lasma l disea se s suc h as c o ntagio us ca pr ine pleuropneumonia (CCPP), contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP), chronic respiratory syndrome, contagious agalactia, enzootic pneumonia etc., are dreaded diseases of livestock and poultry. In cattle, contagious bovine pleuropneumonia is caused by Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides type SC, while in goats and sheep, caprine pleuropneumonia is due to Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. capri (Mmc), M. mycoides subsp. mycoides type LC and M. capricolum subsp. capricolum. However, the contigious caprine pleuropneumonia (CCPP) is due to M. capricolum subsp. capripneumoniae. The disease contagious agalactia of sheep and goat is responsible for mastitis, arthritis, keratoconjunctivitis and it caused by M. agalactiae. Atrophic rhinitis and chronic pneumonia infections in pigs are mainly due to M. hyorrhinis and M. hyopneumoniae, respectively, while chronic respiratory disease (CRD) in chicken by M. gallisepticum. Some other species of mycoplasma like M. bovis and M. bovigenitalium have been isolated from genital tract of bovines associated with infertility or bovine reproductive failure. M. bovigenitalium is also causes bovine mastitis, vulvovaginitis and infertility.