FAMILY I. MYCOPLASMATACEAE 



917 



Coagulated blood serum: Liquefaction. 



Cell suspensions are bile-soluble. 



Indole not produced. 



Hydrogen sulfide not produced. 



Acid from glucose, fructose, maltose, 

 mannose, glycogen, de.xtrin and starch; 

 slight acid by some strains from galactose, 

 sucrose and trehalose. No acid from lactose, 

 xylose, salicin, glycerol, mannitol or dulci- 

 tol. 



Nitrites not produced from nitrates. 



Slight production of ammonia. 



Methylene blue is rapidly reduced. 



Catalase-positive according to some in- 

 vestigators. 



Aerobic; poor growth under anaerobic 

 conditions. 



Serologically distinct from the other mem- 

 bers of the pleuropneumonia group. 



Pathogenicity: Subcutaneous inoculation 

 of infected lymph or of a virulent culture 

 into cattle, goats and sheep causes a spread- 

 ing, oedematous swelling accompanied by 

 fever and other general symptoms; typical 

 lung lesions are not produced by this route 

 of infection, although positive blood cul- 

 tures and arthritis do occur (Nocard and 

 Roux, op. cit., 1898, 240; Dujardin-Beau- 

 metz, Ann. Inst. Past., 20, 1906, 449; Tang, 

 Wei, McWhirter and Edgar, Jour. Path, 

 and Bact., ^0, 1935, 391; Campbell et al., 

 Counc. Sci. and Ind. Res. Bull. 97, 1936). 

 The natural disease has been reproduced 

 in cattle by intratracheal inoculation, by 

 intrajugular injection of the organism in- 

 cluded in emboli of 2 to 3 per cent agar 

 (Daubney, Jour. Comp. Path., 48, 1935, 

 83; Campbell et al., op. cit., 1936) and by 

 exposure to nebulized cultures (Campbell, 

 Jour. Counc. Sci. Ind. Res. Austral., 11, 

 1938, 119). Mice, rats, guinea pigs and ham- 

 sters are not susceptible. 



Comments: Two varieties of this species 

 are recognized: the common, well known 

 variety that causes bovine pleuropneu- 

 monia, and the variety described by 

 Edward (Vet. Rec, 65, 1953, 873) which pro- 

 duces a similar infection in goats. Pleuro- 

 pneumonia-like organisms have recently 

 been isolated from cases of bronchopneu- 

 monia of cattle (Carter, Science, 120, 1954, 

 113); further study is needed before their 

 relationships to this species and to Myco- 



plasma hovigenitalium Freundt can be de- 

 termined. 



Source : Isolated from cases of contagious 

 pleuropneumonia in cattle. 



Habitat: The etiological agent of conta- 

 gious pleuropneumonia in cattle. 



la. Mycoplasma mycoides var. niycoides 

 Freundt, 1955. (Internat. Bull, of Bact. 

 Nomen. and Taxon., 5, 1955, 73.) 



This is the common, well known variety 

 which causes bovine pleuropneumonia and 

 which is the type variety described above. 



lb. Mycoplasma mycoides var. capri (Ed- 

 ward, 1953) Freundt, 1955. (Borrelomyces 

 peripneumoniae caprae Longley, Colonial 

 Research Publications No. 7, H. M. Sta- 

 tionery Office, London, 1951, 23; Astero- 

 coccus mycoides var. capri Edward, Vet. 

 Rec, 65, 1953, 873; Pleuropneumonia capri 

 Tulasne and Brisou, Ann. Inst. Past., 88, 

 1955, 238; Freundt, Internat. Bull, of Bact. 

 Nomen. and Taxon., 5, 1955, 73; also see 

 Edward, Internat. Bull, of Bact. Nomen. 

 and Taxon., 5, 1955, 90.) 



cap'ri. L. mas.n. caper goat; L. gen. noun 

 capri of a goat. 



Relatively stable mycelioid structure with 

 filaments of moderate length (10 to 30 mi- 

 crons) (Freundt, unpublished observation). 

 Short, filamentous forms and elementary 

 bodies have been demonstrated in electron 

 micrographs by Klieneberger-Nobel and 

 Cuckow (Jour. Gen. Microbiol., 12, 1955, 

 95). Gram-negative. 



Serum agar: Unusually large colonies (1.5 

 mm in diameter) after 3 days. 



Horse-blood agar: Alpha hemolysis. 



Rabbit-serum agar: Good growth. 



Media devoid of serum: Slight growth. 



Semi-solid media: Fluffy growth near the 

 surface. 



Broth: Strong opalescence. 



Horse erythrocyte suspensions are de- 

 colorized. 



Coagulated blood serum: Liquefaction. 



Hydrogen sulfide production is slight. 



Acid from glucose, fructose, maltose, 

 mannose, dextrin, glycogen and starch. 

 No acid from lactose, sucrose, galactose, 

 salicin, mannitol or dulcitol. 



Methylene blue is rapidly reduced. 



