Molecular Diagnosis of Small Ruminant Mycoplasmosis

The genus Mycoplasma having many species which are important pathogens for caprine, these include Mycoplasma capricolum subsp. capripneumoniae (Mccp), Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. capri (Mmc), the Mycoplasma mycoides subspecies mycoides small colony (Mmm SC), Mycoplasma mycoides subspecies mycoides Large Colony (Mmm LC), Mycoplasma capricolum subspecies capricolum (Mcc) and Mycoplasma bovine group 7 (MBG7). These all species of Mycoplasma belong to a very interrelated group of Mycoplasmas called ¿Mycoplasma mycoides (Mm) cluster (Cottew et al., 1987). Manso-Silvan et al., (2007) has split this Mycoplasma mycoides cluster into two sub-clusters. The sub cluster of the Mycoplasma mycoides included of Mycoplasma mycoides subspecies mycoides biotype Small Colony (SC) and also the Large mycoides Colony (LC) and Mycoplasma mycoides subspecies capri (Mmc). The second two groups might not be clearly divided, which supports previous suggestions that they be combined into a sole taxonomic entity. The Mycoplasma capricolum sub cluster comprises of Mycoplasma capricolum subspecies capripneumoniae, Mycoplasma capricolum subspecies capricolum, and Mycoplasma subspecies bovine group 7.