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Updated: Jul 7, 2025

Antigen-Capture Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay for Specific Detection of Mycoplasma pneumoniae
Published on: February 24, 2023
[Quantification of antigen of Mycoplasma capricolum subsp. capripneumoniae by optical assay]
Jiazhen Ge1, Pengcheng Gao1, Tongtong Tian1
1State Key Laboratory for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, College of Veterinary Medicine, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu, China.
Abstract:
Mycoplasma capricolum subsp. capripneumoniae (Mccp) is the cause of contagious caprine pleuropneumonia (CCPP) in goats. Inactivated vaccines and capsular polysaccharide (CPS) indirect hemagglutination reagents are available for prevention and serological detection, but high culture costs and complex antigen quantification have been plagued by production staff. In order to solve these problems in production practice, a sugar fermentation medium with an initial pH value of 7.8, which could improve the production of two antigens simultaneously, was screened out by changing the initial pH value based on previous Mccp metabolomics analysis. Since phenol red can be identified by UV absorption spectrum and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) can bind to anionic capsular polysaccharide, a UV spectrum measurement method for analyzing the culture stage reached by Mccp and a CTAB precipitation test for relative quantification of capsular polysaccharide antigen content in the fermentation broth were established. The UV spectrum observation method can guide the production of Mccp according to the growth curve of Mccp, which greatly reduces the monitoring time of the traditional CCU method and improves the accuracy of the original eye-observation method. The established CTAB precipitation test can complete the monitoring of CPS content within 5 hours, which greatly reduces the time required compared with the traditional differential technique, and its accuracy was verified by the phenol-sulfuric acid method. The optimized culture medium and the two correlation comparison methods established in this study can effectively reduce the production cost of Mccp and improve the production efficiency. The two assays have been used in the research at our laboratory, which provides experimental data for further improvement of the production process of CCPP inactivated vaccine and capsular polysaccharide as well as rapid quantification.
Insights
Researchers optimized a culture medium and developed rapid assays to improve the production of Mycoplasma capricolum subsp. capripneumoniae (Mccp) antigens for contagious caprine pleuropneumonia (CCPP) vaccines. These methods reduce costs and increase efficiency in Mccp antigen production.
Area of Science:
- Veterinary Microbiology
- Biotechnology
- Bioprocess Engineering
Context:
- Contagious caprine pleuropneumonia (CCPP), caused by Mycoplasma capricolum subsp. capripneumoniae (Mccp), poses a significant threat to goat health.
- Current production methods for Mccp antigens face challenges including high costs and complex quantification.
Purpose:
- To develop an optimized sugar fermentation medium and novel, rapid assays for Mccp antigen production.
- To address limitations in current Mccp culture and antigen quantification methods.
Summary:
- A sugar fermentation medium with an initial pH of 7.8 was identified to enhance simultaneous production of two key Mccp antigens.
- A UV spectrum measurement method was established for monitoring Mccp culture stage, reducing traditional monitoring time.
- A CTAB precipitation test was developed for rapid relative quantification of capsular polysaccharide (CPS) antigen content, validated against the phenol-sulfuric acid method.
Impact:
- The optimized medium and new assays significantly reduce Mccp production costs and improve efficiency.
- These methods provide crucial data for enhancing CCPP inactivated vaccine and CPS production processes.
- The developed assays offer faster and more accurate monitoring compared to traditional techniques, aiding laboratory research and production.

