Bacteria Genomes - MYCOPLASMA MYCOIDES

Mycoplasma is a genus of small bacteria which lack cell walls. Mycoplasma m. spp. mycoides is best known as the cause of bovine contagious pleuropneumonia (CBPP), a highly destructive disease in bovine cattle that is the only bacterial disease included in the World Organization for Animal Health's A-list of prioritised communicable animal diseases.

CBPP is predominantly a disease of the genus Bos; both bovine and zebu cattle are naturally infected. There are many reported breed differences with respect to susceptibility. In general, European breeds tend to be more susceptible than indigenous African breeds. In zoos the infection has been recorded in bison and yak and it has also been known to cause severe disease in goats.

CBPP is endemic in most of Africa. It is a problem in parts of Asia, especially India and China. Periodically, CBPP occurs in Europe, and outbreaks within the last decade have occurred in Spain, Portugal, and Italy. Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia was eradicated from the United States in the nineteenth century.

The clinical symptoms of acute CBPP involve respiratory distress, cough, cessation of rumination, anorexia, and severe pleuritic pain. The disease is spread by inhalation of droplets from an infected, coughing animal. Consequently, relatively close contact is required for transmission to occur. Outbreaks usually begin as the result of movement of an infected animal into a naive herd. The mortality rate is quite varied and ranges from 10 to 70 percent.

Mycoplasma m. spp. mycoides is the first bacterium that causes a severe disease in livestock whose genome has been sequenced. Knowledge of this genome sequence will help facilitate the development of new vaccines, drugs, and diagnostic tools for CBPP. Because this is the first genome that has been sequenced in the Spiroplasma group of the mollicutes, it will serve as a good complement to the five previously published mollicute genomes for the study of the evolution of the mollicutes. ( M genitalium, M. pneumoniae, Ureaplasma parvum (formerly Ureaplasma urealyticum) and M. penetrans.

References:

Genome Res. 14(2):221-7( 2004)
http://www.brisbio.ac.uk/ROADS/subject-listing/mycoplasmamycoides.html
http://www.vet.uga.edu/vpp/gray_book/FAD/cbp.htm