Transcript Vince Schiavone Periods 1-2 Mycoplasma

Mycoplasma pneumoniae
By:Vince Schiavone
Mycoplasma pneumoniae
• Classification
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Kingdom: Bacteria
Division: Firmicutes
Class: Mollicutes
Order: Mycoplasmatales
Family: Mycoplasmataceae
Genus: Mycoplasma
Species: M. pneumoniae
Characteristics of M. pneumoniae
• Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a very small bacterium
(prokaryote) in the class Mollicutes. It causes the
disease mycoplasma pneumonia, a form of bacterial
pneumonia, and is related to cold agglutinin disease.
• Has no peptidoglycan cell wall.
• Resistant to the effects of penicillin and antibiotics.
• Considered to be a parasite.
Characteristics (continued)
• Mode of nutrition: can be parasitic or saprotrophic
• Shape/Structure: possess a polar extension protruding
from the pseudococcoidal cell body. Can use gliding
motility for movement over solid substances.
• Gram-negative bacterium, needs sterols such as
cholesterol for growth.
History
•
•
•
•
1960s, Leonard Hayflick first identifies the bacterium.
Originally M. pneumoniae was considered a virus.
Known to cause the disease “Walking pneumonia”.
Walking pneumonia was a type of disease that placed mucus
inside air sacks of a patient’s lungs.
• On 20 May 2010, Gibson et al. reported that they had created
the first synthetic genome of a mycoplasmal cell.
• Below is a picture of Hayflick (left) and a diagram of Walking
pneumonia (right).
Known Diseases cause by M.
pneumoniae
•
•
•
Mycoplasma pneumonia is a type of atypical pneumonia. It is caused
by the bacteria M. pneumoniae. This type of pneumonia usually
affects people younger than 40.
Various studies suggest that it makes up 15 - 50% of all pneumonia
cases in adults and even more in school-aged children. Mycoplasma
pneumonia is an infection of the lungs from the bacteria Mycoplasma
pneumoniae.
Can be treated with antibiotics but the bacterium can become
resistant to penicillin and antibiotics.
Citations
• http://www.answers.com/topic/mycoplasm
a
• http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/a
rticle/000082.htm
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycoplasma_p
neumoniae
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycoplasma