A quantitative study of single and mixed infection of the chicken trachea by Mycoplasma gallisepticum

The interaction between Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) and the tracheal mucosa of the young chicken was studied. The use of a selective plating method permitted differentiation between a pathogenic tylosin-resistant strain (227) and a less pathogenic tylosin-sensitive vaccine strain (F). Both MG strains adhered to the tracheal mucosa and colonized equally well. In mixed infection, the presence or absence of the second strain did not change the efficiency of colonization by either strain. When chickens were exposed to the vaccine strain 24 hr or 2 weeks before superinfection by the pathogen, there was no significant reduction in the efficiency of superinfection, despite the presence of 10(6) colony-forming units of MG strain F in the trachea. However, chickens had an increased ability to resist superinfection 5 weeks after exposure via the air sac. These results suggest that the biological mechanism underlying protection of F-strain-vaccinated chickens against adventitious infection by the homologous species does not involve competition for adherence sites or blockage by prior colonization.