Mycoplasmas and mycoplasmal infections in domestic animals
1993
Koshimizu, K. (Kagoshima Univ. (Japan). Faculty of Agriculture)
Mycoplasmas are the procaryotes which lack cell wall. They were isolated for the first time by E. Nocard and E.R. Roux as a pathogen of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP) in 1898. Since then, mycoplasmas have been isolated successively from various kinds of livestock and human beings. Besides lacking cell wall, mycoplasmas greatly differ from general bacteria in genome size, cell structure and nutritional requirement. They are recognized as the smallest living organisms which grown in cell-free media. In 1967, therefore, mycoplasmas were excluded from Class Schizomycetes and were set in a newly established independent category, Class Mollicutes. As the research went on about the properties and pathogenicity of mycoplasmas, it was disclosed that they caused chronic diseases in various kinds of domestic animals and fowls, and gave serious economic damages n animal husbandry. Today, Mollicutes is known to exist not only in mammals and birds but also in insects and plants. The first part of this review summarizes the c/recent knowledge concerning the fundamental properties of mycoplasmas with special reference to the morphological, cultural, biochemical, serological and genetic characteristics. In the second part, the basic features of mycoplasmal infection and immunity are described in connection with the so called host-parasite relationship and environmental factors. The last part comprises the etiological, clinical and pathological outlines of mycoplasmal diseases of cattle, goats, sheep, swine and fowls
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