MYCOPLASMA STURNI SP-NOV, FROM THE CONJUNCTIVA OF A EUROPEAN STARLING(STURNUS-VULGARIS)

Strain UCMF(T) (T = type strain) was isolated from the conjunctiva of a European starling (Sturnus vulgaris) with conjunctivitis. Colonies g rown On conventional mycoplasma agar possessed the typical fried-egg a ppearance observed with many mycoplasmal species. Electron micrographs of ultrathin sections of UCMF(T) revealed a pleomorphic cellular morp hology; the cells ranged from spherical to elliptical or flask shaped, The cell size ranged from 0.3 to 0.5 mu m. Strain UCMF(T) grows well in a variety of mycoplasma broth formulations at 25 degrees C, with ra pid and heavy growth at 37 degrees C, No growth occurs at 42 degrees C . This organism ferments glucose but does not hydrolyze urea or argini ne and has an absolute requirement for sterol for growth. Strain UCMF( T) does not hemagglutinate or hemadsorb chicken erythrocytes, The geno me size is 870 kbp, and the guanine-plus-cytosine content is 31 mol%. Sequence analysis of the 16S rRNA gene demonstrated that this organism is unique and has not been described previously. Serological analysis confirmed that strain UCMF(T) is distinct from all previously identif ied Mycoplasma, Acholeplasma, Spiroplasma, Entomoplasma, and Mesoplasm a species. This organism represents a new species, for which we propos e the name Mycoplasma sturni. Strain UCMF (= ATCC 51945) is the type s train of M. sturni sp. nov.