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High-throughput Detection of Respiratory Pathogens in Animal Specimens by Nanoscale PCR
Published on: November 28, 2016
Mycoplasma testudineum sp. nov., from a desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) with upper respiratory tract disease
D R Brown1, J L Merritt1, E R Jacobson2
1Department of Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.
Abstract:
Mycoplasma testudineum sp. nov., first cultured from the upper respiratory tract of a clinically ill tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) in the Mohave Desert, was distinguished from previously described mollicutes serologically and by 16S rRNA gene sequence comparisons. It lacks a cell wall; ferments glucose, mannose, lactose and sucrose; does not produce 'film and spots'; does not hydrolyse arginine, aesculin or urea; is sensitive to digitonin; and lacks phosphatase activity. The organism causes chronic rhinitis and conjunctivitis of tortoises. The type strain of M. testudineum is BH29T (= ATCC 700618T = MCCM 03231T).
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