''Mycoplasma mycoides'' is a

bacteria Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were among ...

l species of the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

Mycoplasma ''Mycoplasma'' is a genus of bacteria that, like the other members of the class ''Mollicutes'', lack a cell wall around their cell membranes. Peptidoglycan (murein) is absent. This characteristic makes them naturally resistant to antibiotics ...

'' in the class

Mollicutes Mollicutes is a class of bacteria distinguished by the absence of a cell wall. The word "Mollicutes" is derived from the Latin ''mollis'' (meaning "soft" or "pliable"), and ''cutis'' (meaning "skin"). Individuals are very small, typically only 0. ...

. This

microorganism A microorganism, or microbe,, ''mikros'', "small") and ''organism'' from the el, ὀργανισμός, ''organismós'', "organism"). It is usually written as a single word but is sometimes hyphenated (''micro-organism''), especially in olde ...

is a

parasite Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has ...

that lives in

ruminant Ruminants (suborder Ruminantia) are ungulate, hoofed herbivorous grazing or browsing mammals that are able to acquire nutrients from plant-based food by Enteric fermentation, fermenting it in a specialized stomach prior to digestion, principally ...

s. ''Mycoplasma mycoides'' comprises two subspecies, '' mycoides'' and ''

capri Capri ( , ; ; ) is an island located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrento Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples in the Campania region of Italy. The main town of Capri that is located on the island shares the name. It has been ...

'', which infect cattle and small ruminants such as goats respectively.

''Mycoplasma mycoides'' subsp. ''mycoides''

The

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

"''Mycoplasma mycoides'' subsp. ''mycoides'' (Mmm)", previously named "''Mycoplasma mycoides'' subsp. ''mycoides'' Small Colony (SC) type (MmmSC)", is known as the agent of

contagious bovine pleuropneumonia Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP – also known as lung plague), is a contagious bacterial disease that afflicts the lungs of cattle, buffalo, zebu, and yaks. It is caused by the bacterium ''Mycoplasma mycoides'', and the symptoms are pneu ...

(CBPP), a contagious lung disease of cattle. It was first isolated in 1898 by

Edmond Nocard Edmond Isidore Etienne Nocard (29 January 1850 – 2 August 1903), was a French veterinarian and microbiologist, born in Provins (Seine-et-Marne, France). Nocard studied veterinary medicine from 1868 to 1871 and (after a brief service in th ...

et al. and the first mycoplasma to be isolated at all. Formerly, ''M. mycoides'' subsp. ''mycoides'' was known as ''Asterococcus mycoides''.

The ''Mycoplasma mycoides'' cluster

''Mycoplasma mycoides'' belongs to the ''Mycoplasma mycoides'' cluster, or ''Mycoplasma mycoides'' group, a group of closely related infectious mycoplasmas, first named by Weisburg et al. The cluster

sensu stricto ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular co ...

contains the genera ''Mycoplasma mycoides'' and ''

Mycoplasma capricolum ''Mycoplasma capricolum'' is a species of Mycoplasma bacteria. It is primarily a pathogen of goats, but has also been found in sheep and cows. The species requires external sources of cholesterol to grow or survive (which usually comes in the fo ...

'' and comprises six species and subspecies: *''M. mycoides'' subsp. ''mycoides'' biotype Small Colony (MmmSC) *''M. mycoides'' subsp. ''mycoides'' biotype Large Colony (MmmLC) *''M. mycoides'' subsp. ''capri'' (Mmc) * ''M. capricolum'' subsp. ''capricolum'' (Mcc) * ''M. capricolum'' subsp. ''capripneumoniae'' (Mccp) *''Mycoplasma'' sp. 'bovine group 7' (MBG7) The last one is disputed with respect to the question of being a separate species. In 2009, L. Manso-Silván et al. proposed to consider ''M. mycoides'' subsp. ''mycoides'' biotype Large Colony as equal with ''M. mycoides'' subsp. ''capri''. Furthermore, they proposed the name ''Mycoplasma leachii'' sp. nov. for ''Mycoplasma'' sp. 'bovine group 7' as a separate species.

Minimal genome project

In 2010, as part of the

Minimal Genome Project ''Mycoplasma laboratorium'' or Synthia refers to a synthetic strain of bacterium. The project to build the new bacterium has evolved since its inception. Initially the goal was to identify a minimal set of genes that are required to sustain lif ...

, a team of the J. Craig Venter Institute synthesized a modified version (JCVI-syn1.0) of the 1,000,000 base pair ''M. mycoides'' genome and implanted it into a DNA-free bacterial shell of ''

''; the resulting organism was shown to be self-replicating. In 2016, the Venter Institute used genes from the JCVI-syn1.0 to synthesize an even smaller genome they call JCVI-syn3.0, that contains 531,560 base pairs and 473 genes.

References

External links

Type strain of ''Mycoplasma mycoides'' at Bac''Dive'' - the Bacterial Diversity Metadatabase
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1768280 Cryozoa Bacteria described in 1929 mycoides