Mycoplasma

• Mycoplasma are characterized by their pleomorphic shape due to the lack of a cell wall, an electron-dense core terminal organelle/disc at one end used for adherence/attachment, gliding motility, and cell division, and no flagella, fimbriae, lipopolysaccharide, toxins, cytolysins, or enzymes.
• Their cell structures include no cell wall, no flagella, no fimbriae, no lipopolysaccharide, and their cell membrane surface is coated with glycolipids, lipoglycans, lipoprotein, capsular polysaccharide, host-derived cholesterol, and adhesins for attachment to diverse host epithelial cells and compounds.
• Mycoplasma are multidrug resistant naturally.
• Neither vaccine nor antimicrobials eliminate Mycoplasma completely, resulting in partial reduction.
• Mycoplasma can initiate devastating chronic inflammation and pathologies while being very smart to escape during fighting with host defense system.
• The smallest cell wall-less bacteria are Mycoplasma.
• Mycoplasma cause MAKePSR syndrome as well as autoimmunity and cancer.
• Mycoplasma secrete hydrogen peroxide to kill host cells by oxidizing their lipids, proteins, DNA, RNA by free radicals, superoxide (O 2 – ), nucleases to degrade host DNA and RNA, immunoglobulin proteases to degrade proteins including antibodies, and antioxidant enzymes to detoxify free radicals.
• They have various virulence factors such as no/rare toxins, no/rare cytolysins, no/rare invasins, no tricarboxylic acid cycle, no quinones, no cytochromes, no folic acid synthesis, no/rare catalase, no/rare superoxide dismutase, and their cell membrane surface is coated with glycolipids, lipoglycans, lipoprotein, capsular polysaccharide, host-derived cholesterol, and adhesins for attachment to diverse host epithelial cells and compounds.
• Mycoplasma are fastidious and require complex nutrient media that includes Mycoplasma agar containing beef heart infusion, peptone, 5% yeast autolysate, Nucleic acid precursors, penicillin (200 IU/ml), and thallium acetate (0.125 mg/ml).
• Mycoplasma causes Mammary gland atrophy (mastitis) in chronically infected goats with M. gallisepticum.
• Mycoplasma affecting swine, M. hyopneumoniae, causes lung discoloration and the cranioventral consolidation characteristic of enzootic pneumonia.
• Mycoplasma affecting humans, M. pneumoniae, is transmitted by sex and causes 1 million cases annually in the USA, resulting in 100,000 hospitalizations.
• M. gallisepticum also causes conjunctivitis, and arthritis.
• Bovis thickening of the interlobular septa of lung when cut open (marbled appearance) is a sign of lung adherence to chest wall.
• Mycoplasma affecting pets, M. haemofelis, can cause pneumonia, tracheobronchitis, and urogenital disease (vaginosis), which is a sexually transmitted disease (STD).
• Mycoplasma affecting horses, M. haemocanis, can cause severe hemolytic anemia.
• Mycoplasma affecting poultry, M. gallisepticum and M. synoviae, causes airsacculitis, characterized by a thickened and cloudy abdominal air sac with blood vessels visible.
• Mycoplasma affecting sheep and goats, known as Contagious Caprine Pleuropneumonia (CCPP), can cause a trade ban.
• Serum provides cholesterol, amino acids, and other nutrients for Mycoplasma growth.
• 25% of recovered animals may become carriers.
• Mycoplasma can be carried asymptomatically, with the proportion of sick animals in the flock/herd (morbidity) reaching 100% in naïve herds/flocks.
• Factors contributing to the intrinsic/natural multidrug-resistant nature of Mycoplasma include lack of cell wall, lack of lipopolysaccharide, lack of folic acid synthesizing enzymes, and mutations in RNA polymerase.
• Mycoplasma causes swollen hock joint of turkey with infectious Mycoplasma synoviae, with viscous yellow exudate in the joint and around the tendons.
• Mycoplasma causes trade ban by OIE and trade ban of poultry products in the USA by USDA.
• Abdi costs $140 million each year.
• Nucleic acid-based tests (hybridization, PCR) are the method of choice for Mycoplasma detection due to the limitations of culture.
• Antimicrobial drug resistance mechanisms among Mycoplasma spp include lack of beta-lactams, polymixins/colistin, sulfonamides/trimethoprim, and rifampin.
• Control and prevention of Mycoplasma involves biosecurity measures such as all-in-all out practice, single age farm, segregation & traffic control, cleaning and disinfection.
• The proportion of dead animals among infected (mortality) ranges from 30 to 80%.
• Treatment of Mycoplasma involves Doxycycline, Tetracycline, or Erythromycin, but poor responsiveness of infected animals to treatment due to slow growing, sequestration in granuloma, and hiding intracellularly.
• Neither antibiotics nor vaccines are effective for the treatment or prevention of Mycoplasma, culling is recommended for controlling the disease.
• Serology can be applied for surveillance or as part of a biosecurity protocol for buying in new animals, with options including direct or indirect fluorescent staining, ELISA, and Slide Agglutination Test.
• Diagnosis of Mycoplasma involves culture on agar with typical fried egg colonies or gliding motility, which detects in clinical samples and detects only 30-50% using bulk milk tank or individual cow of subclinical infections.
• Over 130 Mycoplasma species exist, with about 40-50 species being pathogenic.
• Mycoplasma has a long distance spread by air/wind, like Chlamydia and Coxiella, and can spread as far as 9.2 km.
• Mycoplasma species show some degree of host specificity, affecting all vertebrates, with a major route of transmission through the mucosal tracts and other body parts.
• Chlamydia is mainly found in humans and birds, and can also be transmitted vertically through transovarian.
• Chlamydia is transmitted through airborne inhalation, contact, and sexual intercourse.
• Mycoplasma can cause diseases such as MAKePSR syndrome, which includes symptoms like abortion, vulvovaginitis, infertility, endometritis, and dystocia.