| Species/Subspecies: | Mycoplasmopsis agalactiae | |||||||||
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| Category: | Notifiable diseases and bacteria | |||||||||
| Etymology: | Genus name: similar to mycoplasma (fungus shaped). Species epithet: from lack of milk | |||||||||
| Significance: | [Important] | |||||||||
| Alternative Species Name(s): | Mycoplasma agalactiae | |||||||||
| Taxonomy: | Class Mollicutes Order Mycoplasmoidales Family Metamycoplasmataceae Genus Mycoplasmopsis |
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| Type Strain: | PG2 = NCTC 10123. | |||||||||
| Macromorphology (smell): | Forms small and very typical umbonated colonies ("fried egg appearance"), which can be observed in a microscope. | |||||||||
| Micromorphology: | Very small and pleomorphic | |||||||||
| Gram +/Gram -: | G-, but is normally not gram stained because the cells will then be fragmented. | |||||||||
| Metabolism: | Facultatively anaerobic | |||||||||
| Catalase/Oxidase: | ||||||||||
| Spec. Char.: | Lacks a cell wall. | |||||||||
| Special Media: | ||||||||||
| Disease: | The disease usually causes more severe symptoms in goats than in sheep.
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| Genome Sequence: |
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| 16S rRNA Seq.: |
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| Taxonomy/phylogeny:
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Mycoplasmopsis is the largest genus among mollicutes of veterinary importance and about 55 species have been described so far within this genus. M. agalactiae is closely related to M. bovis. See the phylogenetic tree (Fig. 33:1) where M can mean Mycoplasma, Mesomycoplasma, Metamycoplasma, Mycoplasmoides or Mycoplasmopsis. | |||||||||
| Legislation: | Contagious agalactia is included in OIE's B-list of major animal diseases. The disease is notifyable in Sweden. | |||||||||
| Comment: | Based on whole genome sequencing, the taxonomy of mycoplasmas has recently undergone a comprehensive revision. The new taxonomy has now been introduced in VetBact, but it will still be possible to search for the alternative species names. Read more about the revised taxonomy of the mollicutes under the Term list of VetBact and see also reference 164 below. | |||||||||
| Reference(s): | No. 164 | |||||||||
| Updated: | 2023-03-15 |