Mycoplasma enhydrae sp. nov. isolated from southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis)
2019
Five
Mycoplasma
strains have been isolated from the oropharynx of southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis) from the Central California Coast, USA. These strains were phenotypically and genetically characterized and compared to other established
Mycoplasma
species. All five strains hydrolysed arginine but not urea, but did not produce acid from glucose, and all were isolated and propagated under anaerobic and aerobic atmospheric conditions at +35–37 ˚C using either SP4 or PPLO medium supplemented with arginine. Colonies on solid medium showed a typical fried-egg appearance and transmission electron microscopy revealed a typical mycoplasma cellular morphology. Molecular characterization included assessment of the following genetic loci: 16S rRNA, 16S–23S rRNA ITS, rpoB, rpoC, polC, topIIA, tufB, arcA and smc. Complete 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that these strains were most closely related to
Mycoplasma phocicerebrale
, and to
Mycoplasma arginini
,
Mycoplasma gateae
and
Mycoplasma canadense
with nucleotide similarities of 99 and 98 %, respectively. Nucleotide analysis of other genetic loci revealed 73–91 % nucleotide similarity to the corresponding genes of the above closely related species. All five strains clustered into a distinct group on the 16S rRNA and rpoB phylogenetic trees. Serological testing via growth inhibition and metabolic inhibition tests employing antiserum to type strains of
M. phocicerebrale
,
M. arginini
,
M. gateae
and
M. canadense
failed to recognize these novel strains. Our results suggest that the strains isolated from southern sea otters represent a novel species of the genus
Mycoplasma
, for which the name
Mycoplasma
enhydrae sp. nov. is proposed; the type strain is 6243-11T (=DSM 106704T=ATCC TSD-140T).
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