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Query: UMLS:C0026936 (Mycoplasma)
 14,761 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Sodium aurothiomalate (ATM), gold keratinate and five different tetracyclines were investigated for activity against M. arthritidis strain ATCC 14124 and M. pulmonis strain JB, both in vitro and in rodents with arthritis caused by these mycoplasmas. In vitro, ATM had only slight activity against M. arthritidis and M. pulmonis, while gold keratinate was virtually inactive against M. pulmonis. In contrast, the tetracyclines were highly active against both mycoplasmas. The tetracyclines and the gold salts were both predominantly mycoplasmastatic. In both rats and mice, parenteral administration of ATM, begun shortly before or after infection of rodents with mycoplasmas, prevented the development of arthritis. ATM or gold keratinate, given subcutaneously to mice already arthritic from infection with M. pulmonis, reduced the severity of the arthritis, even although gold keratinate was inactive aganist this mycoplasma in vitro. Moreover, direct testing of serum, collected from mice treated with gold keratinate, failed to demonstrate antimycoplasmal activity in vitro. These results suggest that the action of gold-containing drugs in mycoplasmal arthritis is due to biological properties of gold other than antimycoplasmal activity. Tetracyclines were also found to be effective in preventing arthritis in rats and mice when given subcutaneously. With high doses, subcutaneous, but not oral, therapy significantly reduced the severity of established arthritis in mice infected with M. pulmonis. The blood levels achieved with the different tetracyclines, when related to their therapeutic activity, indicated that good antimycoplasmal activity and adequate absorption from the gut were not the only properties needed for optimal effectiveness. The results are discussed in relation to treatment of rheumatoid patients with tetracycline HCl.
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PMID:Sodium aurothiomalate, gold keratinate, and various tetracyclines in mycoplasma-induced arthritis of rodents. 40 75

Acholeplasmas, spiroplasmas and other non-helical sterol-requiring mycoplasmas of unknown phylogenetic affinity inhabit insects. Of these, only spiroplasmas are known to be pathogenic. Group I-2 spiroplasmas, or Spiroplasma apis, especially in combination with other organisms, reduce honey-bee longevity. Plant pathogenic mycoplasma-like organisms are often found intracellularly in insects. Spiroplasmas are found predominantly in the gut lumen or haemolymph (or both) of their insect hosts. Pathogenicity of mycoplasmas is usually altered by extended passage in unusual hosts, in only one of two alternate hosts, or in culture media. Enhancement of experimental pathogenicity may occur with extended cultural passages, but maintenance of natural pathogenicity must be accomplished by continuous exposure to the usual host. Recent data provide new information on the ecology of pathogenicity. Spiroplasmas from unique habitats also tend to be unique. Spiroplasmas isolated from flowers appear to be adapted to insect species that frequent floral surfaces. Group IV spiroplasmas have been isolated from members of 4 holometabolous insect orders (including Lepidoptera), all of which visit flowers. Social or predatory insects, or insects with an "aggregation" phase in their life histories, also appear to be prone to spiroplasma infection. Some insect species which harbor spiroplasmas also carry infections of other mollicutes, some of which involve the haemolymph. Appearance of spiroplasmas in adult insects in nature is strongly affected by seasonality. Extensive tests of the host ranges of the new insect mollicutes will be required before their suitability for biological control can be evaluated.
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PMID:Pathogenicity of mollicutes for insects: possible use in biological control. 671 57

Circulating immune complexes (CIC) were detected in 43.6% of 78 patients with primary IgA nephropathy by the solid-phase Clq radioimmunoassay. The IC were intermediate (9 to 17S) in size and contained IgA, IgG, and less commonly IgM. CIC were often present intermittently, correlating with episodes of macroscopic hematuria. Elevated serum IgA concentrations (38.7%) did not correlate with the detection of CIC. Similar findings were observed in sera samples from patients with Henoch Schonlein purpura and in IgA glomerulonephritis associated with alcoholic cirrhosis and/or portal systemic shunts. The factors responsible for the mesangial localization of the IC are not clear, but elevations in serum antibody titers to respiratory pathogens (mycoplasma pneumoniae, herpes virus, influenza), gut flora (E. coli 07), and bovine serum albumin suggest that common exogenous antigens may be involved in the pathogenesis. Primary defects in either mucosal antigen exclusion or reticuloendothelial IC sequestration are proposed to account for these findings.
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PMID:Immunologic studies in IgA nephropathy. 746 48

This paper describes experiments with Mycoplasma mobile 163 K in tench inoculated via the gills, skin, peritoneal cavity or whole body surface and kept at two different temperatures (20 and 25 degrees C). Gill tissues from experimentally infected tench and rainbow-trout gill tissue explants infected in vitro were compared by transmission electron microscopy, revealing that M. mobile was capable of producing gill epithelial cell necrosis in both, but that it was much more severe in the explants. M. mobile was found attached to chloride cells in the tench and between necrotic epithelial cells in the trout gill explants. M. mobile was recovered from the gills for up to 28 days after inoculation, from the skin and swim bladder for up to 14 days, and from the hind gut, kidneys and spleen for up to 8 days. There was no significant difference between the results at 20 and 25 degrees C.
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PMID:Piscine gill epithelial cell necrosis due to Mycoplasma mobile strain 163 K: comparison of in-vivo and in-vitro infection. 759 57

Spiroplasma strain EC-1T (T = type strain), which was isolated from the gut of a lampyrid beetle (Ellychnia corrusca) in Maryland, was serologically distinct from other spiroplasma species and groups. Similar strains were obtained from other E. corrusca specimens, and, later, numerous isolates of similar or partially related strains were obtained from several species of tabanid files. Cells of strain EC-1T were helical, motile filaments that were bound by a single cytoplasmic membrane, and there was no evidence of a cell wall. The cells were filterable through 220-nm-pore-size membrane filters but not through 100-nm-pore-size membrane filters. The organism was absolutely resistant to penicillin (1,000 U/ml) and required sterol for growth. Strain EC-1T grew well in M1D and SP-4 liquid media and could be cultivated in the Edward formulation of conventional mycoplasma medium and in 1% serum fraction medium. Optimal growth occurred at 32 degrees C (doubling time, 1.5 h). Strain EC-1T multiplied at 10 to 41 degrees C, but not at 5 or 43 degrees C. This organism produced acid from glucose, but did not hydrolyze arginine or utilize urea. The guanine-plus-cytosine content of the DNA was determined to be 26.3 mol% by the melting temperature method and 27.0 mol% by the buoyant density method. As a result of our studies, strain EC-1 (= ATCC 43212) is designated the type strain of a new species, Spiroplasma corruscae.
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PMID:Spiroplasma corruscae sp. nov., from a firefly beetle (Coleoptera: Lampyridae) and tabanid flies (Diptera: Tabanidae). 886 21

Half of all men experience symptoms of prostatitis at some time in their lives, but the etiology is unknown for more than 90% of patients. Optimal clinical and culture methods were used to select 135 men with chronic prostatitis refractory to multiple previous courses of antimicrobial therapy. The subjects had no evidence of structural or functional lower genitourinary tract abnormalities of bacteriuria or bacterial prostatitis by traditional clinical tests, or of urethritis or urethral pathogens by culture. Specific PCR assays detected Mycoplasma genitalium, Chlamydia trachomatis, or Trichomonas vaginalis in 10 patients (8%). Broad-spectrum PCR tests detected tetracycline resistance-encoding genes, tetM-tetO-tetS, in 25% of patients and 16S rRNA in 77% of subjects. The tetM-tetO-tetS-positive cases constituted a subset of the 16S rRNA-positive cases. Patients with 16S rRNA were more likely to have > or = 1,000 leukocytes per mm3 in their expressed prostatic secretion than men whose prostate biopsy specimens were negative for 16S rRNA (P < 0.001). Based on direct sequencing and repetitive cloning, multiple sources of 16S rRNA were observed in individual patients. Sequences of 29 cloned PCR products revealed 16S rRNAs distinct from those of common skin and gut flora. These findings suggest that the prostate can harbor microorganisms that are not detectable by traditional approaches. These organisms may be associated with inflammation in the expressed prostatic secretions. Molecular methods hold great promise for identifying culture-resistant microorganisms in patients with chronic prostatitis.
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PMID:Prokaryotic DNA sequences in patients with chronic idiopathic prostatitis. 894 Apr 58

A mollicute (strain BARC 318T) isolated from gut tissue of a green tiger beetle (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae) was found by dark-field microscopy to consist of non-helical, non-motile, pleomorphic coccoid forms of various sizes. In ultrastructural studies, individual cells varied in diameter from 300 to 1200 nm, were surrounded by a cytoplasmic membrane and showed no evidence of cell wall. The organisms were readily filterable through membrane filters with mean pore diameters of 450 and 300 nm, with unusually large numbers of organisms filterable through 200 nm pore membrane filters. Growth occurred over a temperature range of 15-32 degrees C with optimum growth at 30 degrees C. The organism fermented glucose and hydrolysed arginine but did not hydrolyse urea. Strain BARC 318T was insensitive to 500 U penicillin ml-1 and required serum or cholesterol for growth. It was serologically distinct from all currently described sterol-requiring, fermentative Mycoplasma species and from 12 non-sterol-requiring Mesoplasma species, 13 non-sterol-requiring Acholeplasma species and 5 previously described sterol-requiring Entomoplasma species. Strain BARC 318T was shown to have a G + C content of 34 mol% and a genome size of 870 kbp. The 16S rDNA sequence of strain BARC 318T was compared to 16S rDNA sequences of several other Entomoplasma species and to other representative species of the genera Spiroplasma and Mycoplasma, and to other members of the class Mollicutes. These comparisons indicated that strain BARC 318T had close phylogenetic relationships to other Entomoplasma species. On the basis of these findings and other similarities in morphology, growth and temperature requirements and genomic features, the organism was assigned to the genus Entomoplasma. Strain BARC 318T (ATCC 51999T) is designated the type strain of Entomoplasma freundtii sp. nov.
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PMID:Entomoplasma freundtii sp. nov., a new species from a green tiger beetle (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae). 982 21

A cryptic plasmid of the wall-less plant pathogenic mollicute, Spiroplasma kunkelii CR2-3X, was cloned and its sequence analyzed. The 14,615 bp plasmid, designated pSKU146, has a nucleotide content of 28 mol% G + C, and contains 18 potential protein-coding regions (open reading frames, ORFs), of which six encode proteins that exhibit similarity to virulence-associated proteins involved in cell-to-cell adhesion or conjugal DNA transfer. One ORF encodes a 96 kDa protein, SkARP1, that is highly similar to SARP1 adhesin involved in attachment of Spiroplasma citri to insect vector gut membrane. Five ORFs encode proteins similar to TraE and Mob in walled bacteria, and to ORFs found in the integrative, conjugative element (ICEF) of Mycoplasma fermentans, respectively. Presence of domains similar to proteins of the Type IV secretion system in pathogenic bacteria suggests that spiroplasma possesses a related translocation system. Plasmid pSKU146 also contains two identical oriT regions each containing a nick sequence characteristic of the IncP conjugative plasmid family, as well as a 58 bp palindromic sequence, palSK1. Features in pSKU146 suggest that the plasmid functions as a mobile genetic element in conjugative transmission of spiroplasma pathogenicity-related genes.
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PMID:Cryptic plasmid pSKU146 from the wall-less plant pathogen Spiroplasma kunkelii encodes an adhesin and components of a type IV translocation-related conjugation system. 1573 4

Pointed, rod-shaped bacteria colonizing the cuticular surface of the hindgut of the terrestrial isopod crustacean Porcellio scaber (Crustacea: Isopoda) were investigated by comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis and electron microscopy. The results of phylogenetic analysis, and the absence of a cell wall, affiliated these bacteria with the class Mollicutes, within which they represent a novel and deeply branched lineage, sharing less than 82.6% sequence similarity to known Mollicutes. The lineage has been positioned as a sister group to the clade comprising the Spiroplasma group, the Mycoplasma pneumoniae group, and the Mycoplasma hominis group. The specific signature sequence was identified and used as a probe in in situ hybridization, which confirmed that the retrieved sequences originate from the attached rod-shaped bacteria from the hindgut of P. scaber and made it possible to detect these bacteria in their natural environment. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy revealed a spherically shaped structure at the tapered end of the rod-shaped bacteria, enabling their specific and exclusive attachment to the tip of the cuticular spines on the inner surface of the gut. Specific adaptation to the gut environment, as well as phylogenetic positioning, indicate the long-term association and probable coevolution of the bacteria and the host. Taking into account their pointed, rod-shaped morphology and their phylogenetic position, the name "Candidatus Bacilloplasma" has been proposed for this new lineage of bacteria specifically associated with the gut surface of P. scaber.
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PMID:"Candidatus Bacilloplasma," a novel lineage of Mollicutes associated with the hindgut wall of the terrestrial isopod Porcellio scaber (Crustacea: Isopoda). 1763 Mar 15

We analysed the gut microflora of the Long-Jawed Mudsucker, Gillichthys mirabilis by polymerase chain reaction/denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and cloning and sequencing 16S rRNA gene amplicons. Fish were collected at five sites in northern and southern California, USA. The gut microflora assemblages of all G. mirabilis were similar, very simple and dominated by one or more Mycoplasma ribotypes. Hindguts were dominated by Mycoplasmas that were most similar to a ribotype retrieved from Atlantic salmon guts. A Mycoplasma ribotype that was 95% similar to Mycoplasma mobile was the dominant in the foregut.
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PMID:Dominance of Mycoplasma in the guts of the Long-Jawed Mudsucker, Gillichthys mirabilis, from five California salt marshes. 1780 86


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