Mycoplasma fermentans

Mycoplasma fermentans is a very small bacterium in the class Mollicutes. Like other mycoplasmas M. fermentans is characterized by the absence of a peptidoglycan cell wall and resulting resistance to many antibacterial agents. It is a possible human pathogen with roles suggested in many illness such as respiratory, genital, and rheumatoid diseases[2] among others. Investigations have focused on a possible link to it being a cofactor in HIV infection[3] as well as fibromyalgia, Gulf War syndrome and Chronic fatigue syndrome, however the belief that M. fermentans is pathogenic in such conditions has largely been disregarded after the failure of several large scale studies to find a link.[4] Due to its incredibly small size it is difficult to determine the full extent of its role in human diseases, while M. fermentans has been implicated in a myriad of diseases, research at the current point has not conclusively proven its pathogenicity in humans outside of opportunistic infections.

Mycoplasma fermentans
Scientific classification
Domain:	Bacteria
Phylum:	Tenericutes
Class:	Mollicutes
Order:	Mycoplasmatales
Family:	Mycoplasmataceae
Genus:	Mycoplasma
Species:	M. fermentans
Binomial name
Mycoplasma fermentans Edward, 1955 [1]

Discovery

M. fermentans was first described by Ruiter and Wentholt in 1952 from isolate of a human genital infection, which led to the initial name G-strain. In 1954 D.G. Edward identified a strain of mycoplasma in his laboratory isolated from 91 different samples collected from humans that differed in its ability to ferment sugars, he labeled this strain human type 3 as it was the 3rd strain he found in the group of samples. This was later identified to be the same strain as Ruiter and Wentholt's G-strain.[5] In 1955 Edward proposed a new naming structure renaming his human type 3 strain and Ruiter and Wentholt's G-strain to M. fermentans due to its believed unique ability amongst the group to ferment multiple sugars. It has since been found that several other mycoplasma are capable of fermenting multiple sugar sources.[6]

M. incognitus

Main article: Mycoplasma incognitus

In the late 1980s a mycoplasma infection was isolated during autopsy of AIDS patients. This new mycoplasma, dubbed M. incognitus was concerning as it could either be an opportunistic co-infection or a sexually transmitted infectious cofactor to the HIV disease process. This "new" mycoplasma however was later determined to be a strain of M. fermentans . Since then however, several more mycoplasmas have been described as being co-infectious with HIV.[7]

Characteristics

M. fermentans is capable of fermenting both glucose and arginine[8] as well as other sugars.

References

1. Freundt, E. A. "The classification of the pleuropneumonia group of organisms (Borrelomycetales)." International Bulletin of Bacteriological Nomenclature and Taxonomy 5.2 (1955): 67-78.
2. Yáñez, A.; Martínez-Ramos, A.; Calixto, T.; González-Matus, F. J.; Rivera-Tapia, J. A.; Giono, S.; Gil, C.; Cedillo, L. (2013). "Animal model of Mycoplasma fermentans respiratory infection". BMC Research Notes. 6: 9. doi:10.1186/1756-0500-6-9. PMC 3544566. PMID 23298636.
3. Katseni, V. L.; Ryait, B. K.; Ariyoshi, K.; Bieniasz, P. D.; Weber, J. N.; Taylor-Robinson, D.; Gilroy, C. B.; Taylor-Robinson, D. (1993). "Mycoplasma fermentans in individuals seropositive and seronegative for HIV-1". The Lancet. 341 (8840): 271–3. doi:10.1016/0140-6736(93)92617-3. PMID 8093918.
4. De Filippis, Ivano; McKee, Marian L. (2013). Molecular Typing in Bacterial Infections. Humana Press. ISBN 978-1627031844.
5. D. G.FF.EDWARD (1954). "The Pleuropneumonia Group of Organisms: a Review, together with some New Observations". J. Gen. Microbiol. 10 (1): 27–64. doi:10.1099/00221287-10-1-27. PMID 13130825.
6. Richard A. DelGiudice; Theodore R. Carski; Michael F. Barile; Ruth M. Lemcke; Joseph G. Tully (1971). "Proposal for Classifying Human Strain Navel and Related Simian Mycoplasmas as Mycoplasma primatum sp. n". Journal of Bacteriology. 108 (1): 439–445. PMC 247083. PMID 5001200.
7. Winn, Washington C. (2006). Koneman, Elmer W. (ed.). Koneman's color atlas and textbook of diagnostic microbiology. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. ISBN 978-0781730143.
8. Gillespie, Stephen; Hawkey, Peter M. (2006). Principles and Practice of Clinical Bacteriology. Wiley. ISBN 978-0470849767.

Further reading

• Afshar, Baharak; Pitcher, David; Nicholas, Robin A.J.; Miles, Roger J. (March 2008). "An evaluation of PCR methods to detect strains of Mycoplasma fermentans". Biologicals. 36 (2): 117–121. doi:10.1016/j.biologicals.2007.07.003. PMID 17892949.