Isolation and characterization of Mycoplasma gallisepticum and Mycoplasma synoviae from poultry

Avian mycoplasma infection is one of the major health problems facing the poultry industry. Prevalence of Mycoplasma gallisepticllm and Mycoplasma s.,vnoviae among chickens in different parts of Tamil Nadu, were studied by isolatio11 and by performing polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for amplification ofa specific products of530 bp and 207 bp regions from rRNA of MG and MS, respectively. Among 1039 samples analysed by peR, 36 samples were positive for MG and 67 were positive for MS infections. A total of 26 and 47 culture negative samples were PCR positive for MG and MS respectively. The amplified products were subjected to nucleotide sequencing and the obtained sequences were compared with those of standard strains. Nucleotide homology data indicated that all the MS isolates showed 100% homology with Mycoplasma synoviae 16rRNA strain from Australia and MG isolates showed 9699% homology with that of reference strains. Results indicated that majority ofthe isolates are very virulent, which is evident from heavy mortality that have been reported in poultry farms.