Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae

Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae

Classification

Higher order taxa

Domain:Mycoplasm

Phylum: Bacteria

Class: Mollicutes

Order: Mycoplasmatales

Family: Mycoplasmataceae

Genus:

Species: M. hyopneumoniae; Bacteria; Firmicutes; Mollicutes; Mycoplasmataceae; Mycoplasma

Strains: Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae 232 Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae 7448 Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae J

Edited by Jessica Lau, student of Rachel Larsen at UCSD.

Genus

Genus species: Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae

Edited by Jessica Lau, student of Rachel Larsen at UCSD.

NCBI: Taxonomy

Description and significance

Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae is a type of bacteria that has a small genome and does not contain a cell wall. It is found throughout respiratory systems in pigs, such as in the cilia of cells in lungs, and causes coughs and more specifically, enzootic pneumonia (EP). EP is known to cause weight loss in pigs, leading to millions of dollars of losses in the livestock industry.

It is important to sequence the genome of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae in order to analyze how much the bacteria is involved in respiratory diseases in pigs and to also detect antibodies against the bacteria.

The strains of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae are collected using nasal swabs or lung sections. The organisms are then isolated in cultures. However, growth of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae is fairly difficult in the laboratory as the bacteria grows very slowly and requires specific nutrients. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and nested PCD (nPCR) are used together for the detection of the bacteria as well as determination of antibodies against the bacteria. After detecting strains, it is important to analyze how much vaccination affected these strains.

Edited by Jessica Lau, student of Rachel Larsen at UCSD.

Genome structure

 How many chromosomes?  Other interesting features?  What is known about its sequence?

Does it have any plasmids? Are they important to the organism's lifestyle?

Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae 232 has a complete genome. It is circular and the length is 892,758 nucleotides. The GC content is 28%. It has 727 genes. Replicon Type: chromosome.

Edited by Jessica Lau, student of Rachel Larsen at UCSD.

Cell structure and metabolism

Describe any interesting features and/or cell structures; how it gains energy; what important molecules it produces.

Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae is known to produce toxic by-products rather than than toxins, as seen in other disease-causing bacterias.

Edited by Jessica Lau, student of Rachel Larsen at UCSD.

Ecology

Describe any interactions with other organisms (included eukaryotes), contributions to the environment, effect on environment, etc.

Pathology

Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae is a mycoplasma bacteria, signifying that it does not contain a cell wall. This microorganism uses the cilia of epithelial cells lining the lungs as its host. Once attached, it causes cilia to stop functioning, and eventually leads to death of epithelial cells, causing lesions found in pigs infected with enzootic pneumonia (EP).

Symptoms of EP include reduction of growth in pigs and respiratory problems, such as coughing.

Edited by Jessica Lau, student of Rachel Larsen at UCSD.

Application to Biotechnology

Does this organism produce any useful compounds or enzymes? What are they and how are they used?

Current Research

Enter summaries of the most recent research here--at least three required

References

example:

Glockner, F. O., M. Kube, M. Bauer, H. Teeling, T. Lombardot, W. Ludwig, D. Gade, A. Beck, K Borzym, K Heitmann, R. Rabus, H. Schlesner, R. Amann, and R. Reinhardt. 2003. "Complete genome sequence of the marine planctomycete Pirellula sp. strain 1." Proceedings of the National Acedemy of Sciences, vol. 100, no. 14. (8298-8303)

Edited by student of Rachel Larsen and Kit Pogliano