The rates of protein and lipid synthesis of Mycoplasma capricolum were essentially synchronous during growth and depended on the sterol supplement in the media increasing in the order cholesterol (0.5 microgram/ml) < lanosterol (10 microgram/ml) < lanosterol (10 microgram/ml) + cholesterol (0.5 microgram/ml) < cholesterol (10 microgram/ml). The effect of lanosterol plus low cholesterol on macro...

Initial adherence interactions between mycoplasmas and mammalian cells are important for host colonization and may contribute to subsequent pathogenic processes. Despite significant progress toward understanding the role of specialized, complex tip structures in the adherence of some mycoplasmas, particularly those that infect humans, less is known about adhesins through which other mycoplasmas...

The families within the class Mollicutes are distinguished by their morphologies, nutritional requirements, and abilities to metabolize certain compounds. Biosystematic classification of the plant-pathogenic mycoplasmalike organisms (MLOs) has been difficult because these organisms have not been cultured in vitro, and hence their nutritional requirements have not been determined nor have physio...

In most bacteria, two tRNAs decode the four arginine CGN codons. One tRNA harboring a wobble inosine (tRNA(Arg)ICG) reads the CGU, CGC and CGA codons, whereas a second tRNA harboring a wobble cytidine (tRNA(Arg)CCG) reads the remaining CGG codon. The reduced genomes of Mycoplasmas and other Mollicutes lack the gene encoding tRNA(Arg)CCG. This raises the question of how these organisms decode CG...

The diagnosis of contagious caprine pleuropneumonia (CCPP) has often been considered difficult. This is because of the confusion that can arise with other mycoplasmoses of small ruminants. Symptoms and lesions can be similar and the isolation of M. capricolum subsp. capripneumoniae (MccF38) requires skilled technicians. Once MccF38 strains are isolated, their identification should not be diffic...

We have identified a developmentally repressed large-subunit ribosomal protein gene of Dictyostelium discoideum based on sequence similarity to other ribosomal proteins. Protein rpl7 is homologous to large subunit ribosomal proteins from the rat and possibly to Mycoplasma capricolum and Escherichia coli, but is not similar to three sequenced ribosomal proteins in Dictyostelium. The rpl7 gene is...