918 



ORDER X. MYCOPLASMATALES 



Aerobic; poor growth under anaerobic 

 conditions. 



Serologically different from Mycoplasma 

 mycoides var. rnycoides and M. agalactiae. 



Comments: A closely related organism 

 was identified as the cause of an infectious 

 and highly fatal oedema and cellulitis of 

 goats (Melanidi, Bull. Office Internat. des 

 Epizooties, Paris, 36, 1951, 363; Edward, 

 op. cit., 1953, 873). An organism also closel.y 

 related to Mycoplasma mycoides var. capri 

 in cultural, physiological and serological 

 respects was recently isolated as the etio- 

 logical agent of a highly fatal disease, char- 

 acterized by septicemia and arthritis, in a 

 herd of dairy goats; clinically the outbreak 

 was typical of neither contagious agalactia 

 nor caprine pleuropneumonia (Cordy, Adler 

 and Yamamoto, Cornell Vet., 4-5, 1955, 50). 



Source : Isolated from cases of contagious 

 pleuropneumonia of goats. 



Habitat: The etiological agent of conta- 

 gious pleuropneumonia of goats. 



2. Mycoplasma bovigenitaliuniFreundt, 



1955. (P strains of the bovine genital tract, 

 Edward, Jour. Gen. Microbiol., 4, 1950, 

 4; Pleuropneumonia bovigenitalis 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; Borrelomyces bovi- 

 genitalium Freundt, op. cit., 1955, 74.) 



bo.vi.ge.ni.ta'li.um. L. noun bos, bovis 

 the ox; L. neut.adj. (used as a noun) genitale 

 genital organ; L. pi. noun genitalia the geni- 

 talia; L. gen. pi. noun genitalium of genitalia; 

 M.L. gen.pl.noun bovigenitalium of bovine 

 genitalia. 



Unstable, sparsely branching mycelioid 

 structure with very short, almost bacillary 

 filaments which usually measure 2 to 5 mi- 

 crons in length (Freundt, unpublished ob- 

 servation). Gram-negative. 



Horse-serum agar: A film and spots are 

 produced. 



Horse-blood agar: Alpha hemolysis. 



Rabbit-serum agar: Poor growth. 



Semi-solid media: Fluffy growth through- 

 out. 



Broth: Dense, uniform opalescence. 



Carbohydrates not attacked. 



Methylene blue is reduced rather rapidly. 



Aerobic, facultatively anaerobic. 



Ten strains investigated serologically 

 shared common antigens, but at least three 

 different serological types appear to exist. 



Pathogenicity: Suggested as a cause of 

 inflammation of the genital tract, predis- 

 posing to infertility, although inoculation 

 of cultures into the uteri of heifers has so 

 far been unsuccessful. 



Source: Isolated from the bovine genital 

 tract. 



Habitat: Frequent inhabitant of the bo- 

 vine lower genital tract, both in males and 

 females. 



3. Mycoplasma agalactiae (Wroblewski, 

 1931) Freundt, 1955. (Le microbe de I'aga- 

 laxie contagieuse, Bridre and Donatien, 

 Compt. rend. Acad. Sci., Paris, 177, 1923, 

 841; also see Ann. Inst. Past., 39, 1925, 925; 

 Anulotnyces agalaxiae (sic) Wroblewski, Ann. 

 Inst. Past., 47, 1931, 111; Borrelomyces aga- 

 lactiae Turner, Jour. Path, and Bact., 4-1, 

 1935, 25; Capromyces agalactiae Sabin, Bact. 

 Rev., 5, 1941, 57; Pleuropneumonia agalactiae 

 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 Ta.xon., 5, 1955, 90.) 



a.ga.lac'ti.ae. Gr. noun agalactia want of 

 milk, agalactia; M.L. gen. noun agalactiae 

 of agalactia. 



Relatively stable mycelioid structure 

 with filaments of moderate length (10 to 30 

 microns) (Wroblewski, op. cit., 1931, 94; 

 Ledingham, Jour. Path, and Bact., 37, 1933, 

 393; |Z)rskov, Acta Path, et Microbiol. 

 Scand., 19, 1942, 586; Freundt, unpublished 

 observation). Round and oval elementary 

 bodies and short filaments have been dem- 

 onstrated in electron micrographs by 

 Klieneberger-Nobel and Cuckow (Jour. 

 Gen. Microbiol., 12, 1955, 95). Gram-nega- 

 tive. 



Horse-serum agar: A film and spots are 

 produced by most strains. 



Horse-blood agar: Alpha hemolysis. 



Rabbit-serum agar: Poor growth. 



Semi-solid media: Fluffy growth, prefer- 

 ably near the surface. 



Broth: Generalized opacity. Filtrates of 



