Mycoplasma agalactiae, the etiological agent of contagious agalactia of small ruminants, has a family of related genes (avg genes) which encode surface lipoprotein antigens that undergo phase variation. A series of 13 M. agalactiae clonal isolates, obtained from one chronically infected animal over a period of 7 months, were found to undergo major rearrangement events within the avg genomic loc...

BACKGROUND Laboratory diagnostic techniques able to detect Mycoplasma agalactiae are essential in contagious agalactia in dairy goats. This study was designed: 1) to determine the detection limits of PCR and culture in goat milk samples, 2) to examine the effects of experimental conditions including the DNA extraction method, PCR technique and storage conditions (fresh versus frozen stored milk...

A family of abundant surface proteins (Vpmas [variable proteins of Mycoplasma agalactiae]) undergoing phase variation in M. agalactiae has been characterized using monoclonal antibodies and specific polyclonal sera. Two expressed members of 39 kDa (Vpma39) and 34 kDa (Vpma34), which varied in expression between clones of a lineage, shared a common amino-terminal sequence but were immunologicall...

Mycoplasmas are amongst the most successful pathogens of both humans and animals yet the molecular basis of mycoplasma pathogenesis is poorly understood. This is partly due to the lack of classical virulence factors and little similarity to common bacterial pathogenic determinants. Using Mycoplasma agalactiae as a model we initiated research in this direction by screening a transposon mutant li...

  An inactivated agalactia vaccine was prepared with Mycoplasma agalactiae in fermenter. The culture was inactivated and subsequently adjuvanted with aluminum hydroxide gel. Four sheep and four goats were immunized with the experimental vaccine. Two doses of 1ml of vaccine were administered three weeks interval. Monthly, blood samples were taken from the vaccinated animals up to the fifth month...

The electrophoretic patterns of cell proteins in polyacrylamide gels were used for the study of several taxonomic problems in the Mycoplasmatales. The patterns of five Mycoplasma hominis strains showed marked differences that corresponded with their known serological and nucleic acid heterogeneity. The patterns of three M. mycoides var. mycoides strains isolated in different countries were esse...

For the first time, a total of 14 Mycoplasma isolates were cultured from 24 moribund prawns investigated during an outbreak of mid-crop mortality syndrome in northern Queensland, Australia. Mycoplasma were isolated from the gill appendages, brains and eyes of the prawns. Mycoplasma growth occurred between 20 and 37°C with or without CO2 in modified Frey's medium containing 0.5 to 3.0% sodium ch...

In this study, flow cytometry was evaluated for the determination of the minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of seven antibacterial agents (enrofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, streptomycin, chloramphenicol, oxytetracycline, and tylosin) on Mycoplasma (M.) agalactiae. Flow cytometry was able to detect M. agalactiae inhibition from 6 h postincubation, although it seems that definitive MI...

While researching the activities of Paul de Kruif, an American microbiologist and medical science journalist,1 I came across some previously unknown correspondence of interest for the history of malaria research and of the history of medicine generally. It sheds new light on the origin of De Kruif’s book Microbe hunters and more particularly on his description of the discovery of the transmissi...

Contagious agalactia represents one of the most relevant infectious diseases dairy sheep, with Mycoplasma agalactiae being primary etiological agent. The early, sensitive, and specific identification infected animals, as well development efficient prophylactic tools, remain challenging. Here, we present a comprehensive characterization M. antigens focusing on those shared among different isolat...