Hofmann-Lehmann
Fakultäten » Vetsuisse-Fakultät » Nutztiere, Departement für » Veterinärmedizinisches Labor » Prof. Dr. Regina Hofmann-Lehmann » Hofmann-Lehmann
Completed research project
| Title / Titel | Identification, molecular characterization and occurrence of a novel hemoplasma species in cattle (Candidatus Mycoplasma haemobovis) and development of real-time PCR assays for the diagnosis of bovine haemoplasma infections | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract (PDF, 14 KB) | |||||||
| Summary / Zusammenfassung | Concomitant with an outbreak of fatal anaplasmosis in a cattle herd in Switzerland in 2002, we detected two bovine hemoplasma species in diseased animals: Mycoplasma wenyonii (formerly Eperythrozoon wenyonii), and a second, novel bovine hemoplasma species later designated as ‘Candidatus Mycoplasma haemobos’ (synonym ‘Candidatus Mycoplasma haemobovis’). The second species was characterized by a shorter 16S rRNA gene. The aims of the present study were to provide a detailed molecular characterization of this species, to develop specific quantitative real-time PCR assays for the two bovine hemoplasma species and to apply these assays in order to evaluate the prevalence and clinical significance of the hemoplasmas. Sequencing of the near-complete 16S rRNA gene of the second hemoplasma revealed that it was 94% identical to Mycoplasma haemofelis, an anemia-inducing feline hemoplasma species, but less than 85% identical to the bovine hemoplasma M. wenyonii. Using the newly developed assays, a total of 159 animals from the anaplasmosis outbreak were reexamined. In addition, we tested 57 clinically ill and 61 healthy Swiss cattle, as well as 47 calves. Both hemoplasmas were highly prevalent in adult cattle, but were almost not detected in calves. Animals from the herd with the fatal anemia outbreak were more frequently infected with M. wenyonii and exhibited higher M. wenyonii blood loads than animals with unrelated diseases and healthy animals. Co-infections may increase the pathogenicity and clinical significance of bovine hemoplasmosis. | ||||||
| Publications / Publikationen | Meli ML, B Willi, UM Dreher, V Cattori, G Knubben-Schweizer, K Nuss, U Braun, H Lutz, R Hofmann-Lehmann. 2010. Identification, molecular characterization, and occurrence of two bovine hemoplasma species in Swiss cattle and development of real-time TaqMan quantitative PCR assays for diagnosis of bovine hemoplasma infections. J Clin Microbiol 48:3563-8. | ||||||
| Keywords / Suchbegriffe | Fatal anemia, bovine hemoplasmas, Mycoplasma wenyonii, 16S rRNA gene, real-time TaqMan PCR | ||||||
| Project leadership and contacts / Projektleitung und Kontakte |
|
||||||
| Funding source(s) / Unterstützt durch |
No project-specific funding |
||||||
| Duration of Project / Projektdauer | Aug 2002 to Dec 2008 |