PLEUROPNEUMONIALIKE ORGANISMS IN TISSUE CULTURES

Presence of the arginine dihydrolase pathway in Mycoplasma

Barile, Michael F. (Division of Biologics Standards, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md.), Robert T. Schimke, and Donald B. Riggs. Presence of the arginine dihydrolase pathway in Mycoplasma. J. Bacteriol. 91:189-192. 1966.-The presence of the arginine dihydrolase pathway was examined in 61 Mycoplasma strains representing at least 18 Mycoplasma species isolated from nine different sources: human, bovine, avian, murine, swine, goat, canine, sewage, and tissue cell culture origin. Some species were represented by only one or two strains. Different strains of the same species gave the same results. Ten species (56%) were positive. Many nonpathogenic Mycoplasma species (M. hominis, type 1 and 2, M. fermentans, M. salivarium, and M. gallinarum) were positive, whereas most pathogenic species (M. pneumoniae, M. gallisepticum, M. neurolyticum, and M. hyorhinis) were negative. The presence of arginine dihydrolase activity among Mycoplasma species may prove to be useful for purposes of identification and classification.

Elimination of Mycoplasma from cell cultures by means of specific bovine antiserum

Heifers were immunized against Mycoplasma arginini, M. fermentans, M. hyorhinis and M. orale and the antisera were applied for elimination of these species from cell cultures. From fifteen out of nineteen contaminated human and animal cell cultures the mycoplasmas could be eliminated by treating the cells with medium with 10% or 20% antiserum (eight cases) or antiserum combined with one or two antibiotics (six cases). In ten cases two treatments were sufficient, in four cases respectively four, six or eight (2 X) treatments were necessary, in one case antiserum combined with a heat treatment (42 degrees C) was successful. The efficacy of the treatment depended on the antibody titer of the serum, the contaminating mycoplasm species (M. arginini being more difficult to eliminate than the other three species) and the cells involved. The bovine sera were not cytotoxic, except for a slight toxicity for a mouse lymphoma cell line. The application of specific bovine antiserum for elimination of mycoplasmas is an easy and often successful method.

A urease-ELISA for the detection of mycoplasma infections in poultry

An ELISA utilising a urease-antibody conjugate specific to chicken IgG was examined as an alternative to the serum agglutination and the haemagglutination inhibition tests in the diagnosis of Mycoplasma gallisepticum and M. synoviae infections in poultry. Use of a urease conjugate allowed the serum reactions to be appraised without the need for expensive photometric equipment. Non-specific binding of conjugate to antigen was eliminated by treatment of antigen coated microplates with 10% foetal calf serum in phosphate buffered saline. Some chicken serums produced non-specific reactions. These reactions were reduced without any loss of test sensitivity by making the initial 1:5 dilution of chicken serum in whole sheep serum rather than diluting buffer. Tests on serums from experimentally infected chickens showed that the urease ELISA was specific, and was as sensitive as the serum agglutination test but more sensitive than the haemagglutination inhibition test.

Isolation of Acholeplasma laidlawii from commercial, serum-free tissue culture medium and studies on its survival and detection

This report documents the first isolation of Acholeplasma laidlawii from a commercial lot of serum-free Dulbecco basal medium. Experimental studies demonstrated survival of the organism for at least 1 year depending on the concentration of the contaminating organism as well as pH and temperature of storage of the serum-free medium. A comparison of isolation methods showed that concentration by filtration through 220-nm membrane filters and testing the filters for mycoplasma recovery, especially when using phenol red-diphasic Hayflick medium, was both sensitive and practical for the average laboratory.

Mycoplasmas and cell cultures

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Genetic Differentiation by Nucleic Acid Homology II. Genotypic Variations Within Two Mycoplasma Species

Somerson, Norman L. (National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md.), Paul R. Reich, Barbara E. Walls, Robert M. Chanock, and Sherman M. Weissman. Genetic differentiation by nucleic acid homology. II. Genotypic variations within two Mycoplasma species. J. Bacteriol. 92:311-317. 1966.-A deoxyribonucleic-ribonucleic acid (DNA-RNA) homology technique was used to determine genetic relatedness among the nucleic acids of eight mycoplasmas which were serologically classified as Mycoplasma hominis type 1. The DNA preparations from these organisms were each found to be distinct. No subgrouping of the M. hominis type 1 strains could be demonstrated. In contrast, when the nucleic acids from six serologically related mycoplasmas which were isolated from tissue cultures were studied, the DNA from these species could not be distinguished. The DNA buoyant densities of the tissue culture isolates were similar. These isolates were closely related genetically to a porcine mycoplasma, M. hyorhinis.