The DNAs of four Mycoplasma and one Acholeplasma species were found to contain methylated bases. All of the five species contained 6-methyladenine (m6Ade), the methylated base characteristic of prokaryotic DNA. The extent of methylation of adenine residues in the mycoplasmal DNA ranged from 0.2% in Mycoplasma capricolum to about 2% in Mycoplasma arginini and Mycoplasma hyorhinis with intermedia...

Mycoplasma capricolum, a parasitic prokaryote, contains several small stable RNAs, besides rRNAs and tRNAs. One of them, designated MCS4 RNA (125 nucleotides in length), has been isolated and sequenced. This RNA is abundant in the cell, and is encoded by two genes. Unexpectedly, MCS4 RNA has been found to reveal extensive sequence similarity to eukaryotic U6 snRNAs. This finding suggests that M...

Mycoplasma capricolum subsp. capripneumoniae (Mccp) is the causative agent of contagious caprine pleuropneumonia (CCPP), a devastating disease of domestic goats. The exact distribution of CCPP is not known but it is present in Africa and the Middle East and represents a significant threat to many disease-free areas including Europe. Furthermore, CCPP has been recently identified in Tajikistan a...

Mycoplasma, which was used to create the first "synthetic life", has been an important species in the emerging field, synthetic biology. However, essential genes, an important concept of synthetic biology, for both M. mycoides and M. capricolum, as well as 14 other Mycoplasma with available genomes, are still unknown. We have developed a gene essentiality prediction algorithm that incorporates ...

The nucleoids in Mycoplasma capricolum cells were visualized by phase-combined fluorescence microscopy of DAPI (4', 6-diamidino-2-phenylindole)-stained cells. Most growing cells in a rich medium had one or two nucleoids in a cell, and no anucleate cells were found. The nucleoids were positioned in the center in mononucleoid cells and at one-quarter and three-quarters of the cell length in binuc...

Contagious caprine pleuropneumonia (CCPP), caused by Mycoplasma capricolum subsp. capripneumoniae (Mccp), is a devastating disease of domestic goats and of some wild ungulate species. The disease is currently spreading in Africa and Asia and poses a serious threat to disease-free areas. A comprehensive view of the evolutionary history and dynamics of Mccp is essential to understand the epidemio...