Bacteria Genomes - MYCOPLASMA HYOPNEUMONIAE

Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae is a member of the class Mollicutes, meaning soft skin. Along with the other members of this class ( Acholeplasma, Anaeroplasma, Asteroleplasma, Spiroplasma, and Ureaplasma ) Mycoplasma are characterised by their unusually small genome as well as their complete lack of a bacterial cell wall. Because there is no cell wall they were at first thought to be virus, but are now considered primitive bacteria. Wall-less bacteria are much more difficult to kill because they lack the lipid layer surrounding them, as a result they are highly polymorphic and do not present consistent eipitopes for drug treatment.

Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae is the causative agent of porcine enzootic pneumonia, a mild, chronic pneumonia of swine commonly complicated by opportunistic infections with other bacteria . Like most other members of the order Mycoplasmatales , M. hyopneumoniae is infective for a single host species. This organism is highly infectious, has a worldwide distribution, and occurs in almost every herd. Relative control has been achieved through active vaccination programs, but porcine enzootic pneumonia continues to be one of the major economic problems in the swine industry. While progress has been made in understanding the molecular basis for some mycoplasma diseases, M. hyopneumoniae has resisted advances because of its fastidious growth and the lack of genetic tools and transforming protocols. Complicating the studies are active phenotypic switching and antigenic variation mechanisms within mycoplasmas that may also play an important role in M. hyopneumoniae -host interactions but are largely unexplored.

References:

http://www.adiagene.com/produits/mh.htm
http://biology.kenyon.edu/Microbial_Biorealm/bacteria/gram-positive/mycoplasma/mycoplasma.htm#cell