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Journal of Bacteriology Jun 2012Within the genus Mycoplasma are species whose cells have terminal organelles, polarized structures associated with cytadherence and gliding motility. Mycoplasma... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study
Within the genus Mycoplasma are species whose cells have terminal organelles, polarized structures associated with cytadherence and gliding motility. Mycoplasma penetrans, found mostly in HIV-infected patients, and Mycoplasma iowae, an economically significant poultry pathogen, are members of the Mycoplasma muris phylogenetic cluster. Both species have terminal organelles that interact with host cells, yet the structures in these species, or any in the M. muris cluster, remain uncharacterized. Time-lapse microcinematography of two strains of M. penetrans, GTU-54-6A1 and HF-2, and two serovars of M. iowae, K and N, show that the terminal organelles of both species play a role in gliding motility, with differences in speed within and between the two species. The strains and serovars also differed in their hemadsorption abilities that positively correlated with differences in motility speeds. No morphological differences were observed between M. penetrans and M. iowae by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). SEM and light microscopy of M. penetrans and M. iowae showed the presence of membranous filaments connecting pairs of dividing cells. Breaking of this filament during cell division was observed for M. penetrans by microcinematography, and this suggests a role for motility during division. The Triton X-100-insoluble fractions of M. penetrans and M. iowae consisted of similar structures that were unique compared to those identified in other mycoplasma species. Like other polarized mycoplasmas, M. penetrans and M. iowae have terminal organelles with cytadherence and gliding functions. The difference in function and morphology of the terminal organelles suggests that mycoplasmas have evolved terminal organelles independently of one another.
Topics: Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; Mycoplasma iowae; Mycoplasma penetrans; Organelles; Time-Lapse Imaging
PubMed: 22447904
DOI: 10.1128/JB.00060-12 -
Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic... Jul 2019The identification of avian spp. by conventional immunologic, phenotypic, and molecular methods can be demanding and time-consuming. We evaluated MALDI-TOF MS for its...
The identification of avian spp. by conventional immunologic, phenotypic, and molecular methods can be demanding and time-consuming. We evaluated MALDI-TOF MS for its suitability to identify avian mycoplasmas at the species level. We generated a mycoplasma spectral database of 36 main spectrum profiles (MSPs) representing 23 avian spp. using 23 type and reference strains, 1 live vaccine strain, and 8 clinical isolates. We then used 112 avian clinical isolates of different avian mycoplasmas, 4 live vaccine strains, and 1 type strain, previously cultured and identified to the species level by molecular methods, to evaluate the MSP database. Protein extraction and MALDI-TOF MS analysis were performed with a maximum of 3 repetitions per isolate. MALDI-TOF MS resulted in accurate species-level identification with a score of ≥2.0 for 112 of 117 (96%) isolates. The MALDI-TOF MS analysis of 4 of 5 isolates that did not yield a score of ≥2.0 resulted in best-match identifications that were still concordant at species level with the molecular method used for previous identification. Therefore, MALDI-TOF MS is a promising tool for reliable identification of avian spp.
Topics: Animals; Birds; Humans; Mycoplasma; Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization
PubMed: 31184287
DOI: 10.1177/1040638719856932 -
Future Microbiology Jul 2010With their reduced genome bound by a single membrane, bacteria of the Mycoplasma species represent some of the simplest autonomous life forms. Yet, these minute... (Review)
Review
With their reduced genome bound by a single membrane, bacteria of the Mycoplasma species represent some of the simplest autonomous life forms. Yet, these minute prokaryotes are able to establish persistent infection in a wide range of hosts, even in the presence of a specific immune response. Clues to their success in host adaptation and survival reside, in part, in a number of gene families that are affected by frequent, stochastic genotypic changes. These genetic events alter the expression, the size and the antigenic structure of abundant surface proteins, thereby creating highly versatile and dynamic surfaces within a clonal population. This phenomenon provides these wall-less pathogens with a means to escape the host immune response and to modulate surface accessibility by masking and unmasking stably expressed components that are essential in host interaction and survival.
Topics: Animals; Antigenic Variation; Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; Humans; Immune Evasion; Models, Biological; Mycoplasma; Mycoplasma Infections; Recombination, Genetic
PubMed: 20632806
DOI: 10.2217/fmb.10.71 -
The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics :... Sep 2012Mycoplasma and Ureaplasma species are well-known human pathogens responsible for a broad array of inflammatory conditions involving the respiratory and urogenital tracts... (Review)
Review
Mycoplasma and Ureaplasma species are well-known human pathogens responsible for a broad array of inflammatory conditions involving the respiratory and urogenital tracts of neonates, children, and adults. Greater attention is being given to these organisms in diagnostic microbiology, largely as a result of improved methods for their laboratory detection, made possible by powerful molecular-based techniques that can be used for primary detection in clinical specimens. For slow-growing species, such as Mycoplasma pneumoniae and Mycoplasma genitalium, molecular-based detection is the only practical means for rapid microbiological diagnosis. Most molecular-based methods used for detection and characterization of conventional bacteria have been applied to these organisms. A complete genome sequence is available for one or more strains of all of the important human pathogens in the Mycoplasma and Ureaplasma genera. Information gained from genome analyses and improvements in efficiency of DNA sequencing are expected to significantly advance the field of molecular detection and genotyping during the next few years. This review provides a summary and critical review of methods suitable for detection and characterization of mycoplasmas and ureaplasmas of humans, with emphasis on molecular genotypic techniques.
Topics: Humans; Molecular Diagnostic Techniques; Mycoplasma; Mycoplasma Infections; Ureaplasma; Ureaplasma Infections
PubMed: 22819362
DOI: 10.1016/j.jmoldx.2012.06.001 -
Virulence 2018Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae and Mycoplasma flocculare are genetically similar bacteria, which coinhabit the porcine respiratory tract. These mycoplasmas share most of the... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study
Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae and Mycoplasma flocculare are genetically similar bacteria, which coinhabit the porcine respiratory tract. These mycoplasmas share most of the known virulence factors, but, while M. hyopneumoniae causes porcine enzootic pneumonia (PEP), M. flocculare is a commensal species. To identify potential PEP determinants and provide novel insights on mycoplasma-host interactions, the whole cell proteomes of two M. hyopneumoniae strains, one pathogenic (7448) and other non-pathogenic (J), and M. flocculare were compared. A cell fractioning approach combined with mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) proteomics was used to analyze cytoplasmic and surface-enriched protein fractions. Average detection of ~ 50% of the predicted proteomes of M. hyopneumoniae 7448 and J, and M. flocculare was achieved. Many of the identified proteins were differentially represented in M. hyopneumoniae 7448 in comparison to M. hyopneumoniae J and M. flocculare, including potential PEP determinants, such as adhesins, proteases, and redox-balancing proteins, among others. The LC-MS/MS data also provided experimental validation for several genes previously regarded as hypothetical for all analyzed mycoplasmas, including some coding for proteins bearing virulence-related functional domains. The comprehensive proteome profiling of two M. hyopneumoniae strains and M. flocculare provided tens of novel candidates to PEP determinants or virulence factors, beyond those classically described.
Topics: Adhesins, Bacterial; Animals; Bacterial Proteins; Host Microbial Interactions; Mass Spectrometry; Mycoplasma; Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae; Peptide Hydrolases; Pneumonia of Swine, Mycoplasmal; Proteome; Species Specificity; Swine; Virulence Factors
PubMed: 30027802
DOI: 10.1080/21505594.2018.1499379 -
Biological Research 2011Infection of mycoplasmas has been linked to various human diseases including arthritis, pneumonia, infertility and cancer. While Mycoplasma hyorhinis and Mycoplasma...
Infection of mycoplasmas has been linked to various human diseases including arthritis, pneumonia, infertility and cancer. While Mycoplasma hyorhinis and Mycoplasma fermentans have been detected in gastric adenocarcinomas, the mechanisms underlyine the pathogenesis are unknown. In this study, cell growth kinetics, Hoechst 33258 staining, DNA ladder assays, Western blotting analysis and cDNA microarray assays were performed to investigate the roles of M. hyorhinis and M. fermentans during infection of mammalian cells. Our data demonstrated that these mycoplasmas inhibid the growth of immortalised cell lines (32D and COS-7) ane tumor cell lines (HeLa and AGS). In addition, the infection of the 32D cell line with M. hyorhinis and M. fermentans induced compression of the nucleus, degradation of the cell genome and dysregulation of the expression of genes related to proliferation, apoptosis, tumorigenesis, signaling pathway and metabolism. Apoptosis related proteins Bcl-2, Bid and p53 were down-regulated, Fas was up-regulated and Bax was dysregulated in mycoplasma-infected 32D cells. Together, our data demonstrated that infection of mycoplasmas inhibitd cele growts through modification of gene expression profiles and post-translation modification of proliferation and apoptosis related proteins.
Topics: Animals; Apoptosis; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Proliferation; Gene Expression Profiling; Mice; Mycoplasma fermentans; Mycoplasma hyorhinis; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
PubMed: 22446603
DOI: No ID Found -
Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic... Jul 2018Little is known about the presence of mycoplasmas in the genital tracts of domestic and stray bitches or in the vaginas of ovariohysterectomized (OHE) bitches. Moreover,...
Little is known about the presence of mycoplasmas in the genital tracts of domestic and stray bitches or in the vaginas of ovariohysterectomized (OHE) bitches. Moreover, to our knowledge, there has been no research to investigate the presence of canine vaginal mycoplasmas during the different stages of the reproductive cycle. We investigated the occurrence of mycoplasmas in the vaginas of healthy domestic and stray intact bitches, to correlate their presence with specific stages of the reproductive cycle, and to compare them with those in OHE bitches. We also investigated the presence of uterine mycoplasmas. Mycoplasmas were isolated from 41 of 122 vaginal swabs (34%) from domestic (27%) and stray (39%) bitches. Mycoplasma canis was the most commonly identified species ( n = 26; 63%), and was detected in both intact (60%) and OHE (73%) bitches. Mycoplasma isolates from the vaginas of healthy bitches did not vary during the various stages of the estrous cycle. Mycoplasmas were not detected in uterine samples.
Topics: Animals; Dogs; Female; Mycoplasma; Vagina
PubMed: 29790451
DOI: 10.1177/1040638718778745 -
BMC Genomics Dec 2017Although Mycoplasma genitalium is a common sexually transmitted pathogen causing clinically distinct diseases both in male and females, few genomes have been sequenced...
BACKGROUND
Although Mycoplasma genitalium is a common sexually transmitted pathogen causing clinically distinct diseases both in male and females, few genomes have been sequenced up to now, due mainly to its fastidious nature and slow growth. Hence, we lack a robust phylogenetic framework to provide insights into the population structure of the species. Currently our understanding of the nature and diversity of M. genitalium relies on molecular tests targeting specific genes or regions of the genome and knowledge is limited by a general under-testing internationally. This is set against a background of drug resistance whereby M. genitalium has developed resistance to mainly all therapeutic antimicrobials.
RESULTS
We sequenced 28 genomes of Mycoplasma genitalium from temporally (1980-2010) and geographically (Europe, Japan, Australia) diverse sources. All the strain showed essentially the same genomic content without any accessory regions found. However, we identified extensive recombination across their genomes with a total of 25 regions showing heightened levels of SNP density. These regions include the MgPar loci, associated with host interactions, as well as other genes that could also be involved in this role. Using these data, we generated a robust phylogeny which shows that there are two main clades with differing degrees of genomic variability. SNPs found in region V of 23S rRNA and parC were consistent with azithromycin/erythromycin and fluoroquinolone resistances, respectively, and with their phenotypic MIC data.
CONCLUSIONS
The sequence data here generated is essential for designing rational approaches to type and track Mycoplasma genitalium as antibiotic resistance increases. It represents a first approach to its population genetics to better appreciate the role of this organism as a sexually transmitted pathogen.
Topics: Drug Resistance, Bacterial; Genes, Bacterial; Genetic Variation; Genome, Bacterial; Mycoplasma genitalium; Phylogeny; Recombination, Genetic; Sequence Analysis, DNA
PubMed: 29281972
DOI: 10.1186/s12864-017-4399-6 -
British Medical Journal Dec 1965
Topics: Mycoplasma
PubMed: 5850460
DOI: No ID Found -
Journal of Molecular Biology Jan 2022Building structural models of entire cells has been a long-standing cross-discipline challenge for the research community, as it requires an unprecedented level of...
Building structural models of entire cells has been a long-standing cross-discipline challenge for the research community, as it requires an unprecedented level of integration between multiple sources of biological data and enhanced methods for computational modeling and visualization. Here, we present the first 3D structural models of an entire Mycoplasma genitalium (MG) cell, built using the CellPACK suite of computational modeling tools. Our model recapitulates the data described in recent whole-cell system biology simulations and provides a structural representation for all MG proteins, DNA and RNA molecules, obtained by combining experimental and homology-modeled structures and lattice-based models of the genome. We establish a framework for gathering, curating and evaluating these structures, exposing current weaknesses of modeling methods and the boundaries of MG structural knowledge, and visualization methods to explore functional characteristics of the genome and proteome. We compare two approaches for data gathering, a manually-curated workflow and an automated workflow that uses homologous structures, both of which are appropriate for the analysis of mesoscale properties such as crowding and volume occupancy. Analysis of model quality provides estimates of the regularization that will be required when these models are used as starting points for atomic molecular dynamics simulations.
Topics: Bacteria; Computational Biology; Genome, Bacterial; Models, Structural; Molecular Dynamics Simulation; Mycoplasma; Mycoplasma genitalium; Proteome; Transcriptome
PubMed: 34774566
DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2021.167351