CHARACTERIZATION OF CYTOPATHOGENICITY OF AQUARIUM SEAL MYCOPLASMAS AND SEAL FINGER MYCOPLASMAS BY LIGHT AND SCANNING ELECTRON-MICROSCOPY

Two recent mycoplasma isolates (one from an aquarium seal and one from a patient with the clinical entity known as seal finger) have been ev aluated for cytopathogenicity in tracheal explant cultures. Examinatio ns were performed in direct comparison to Mycoplasma phocidae, an isol ate from an epidemic of seal pneumonia along the New England coast (US A) in 1979-1980. The study revealed similar inhibitory effects on cili ated tracheal epithelial cells and clumping of cilia by attached mycop lasmas; no exfoliation of respiratory epithelial cells was observed. I n addition, cytopathic effects caused by the mycoplasmas were distingu ished from effects of aging in non-infected explants under long-term i n-vitro cultivation conditions. The general meaning of mycoplasmas in seals is discussed in detail in this paper.