Experimental infection of BHK21 and Vero cell lines with different Mycoplasma spp

Mycoplasma spp, belongs to the class Mollicutes and is capable to produce alterations in cellular cultures causing damages to the biotechnological industry. Bioproducts generally require two essential inputs, bovine serum and cells. The study herein aims to evaluate the mycoplasma concentrations that affect the growing of BHK21 and Vero cells. The species used were: Mycoplasma orale, M. salivarium, M. arginini and M. hyorhinis, cultivated in a SP4 media. Two contamination tests were performed with BHK21 and Vero cells and one of them applied different concentrations of mycoplasma. In the first one, mycoplasma was applied at the day zero and, in the second one, the contamination was performed after the monolayer establishment. The both cellular cultures presented cytopathic effects with mycoplasma contamination, but the Vero cells suffered more damages than the BHK21 ones. It was also observed that the severity of the cytopathic effect depended on the mycoplasma specie, on the concentration and on the time of contact with the cellular culture, which evidences the importance of controlling the presence of mycoplasma in biotechnological industries.