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Spiroplasma monobiae sp. nov. from the Vespid Wasp Monobia quadridens (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)

¹Insect Biocontrol Laboratory, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, Maryland 20705
²Mycoplasma Section, Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology, Frederick Cancer Research Facility, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Frederick, Maryland 21702
³Laboratoire de Biologie Cellulaire et Moléculaire, Institut Nationale de Recherche Agronomique, 33883 Villenave d'Ornon Cedex, France
⁴Department of Anatomical Sciences, State University of New York, Stony Brook, New York 11794

^* Corresponding author.

ABSTRACT

Spiroplasma strain MQ-1^T (T = type strain) from the hemolymph of the vespid wasp Monobia quadridens differed serologically from other spiroplasma species, groups, and subgroups. Cells of strain MQ-1^T were helical and motile and possessed a single cytoplasmic membrane, with no evidence of a cell wall. The organism grew in conventional mycoplasma medium, in serum fraction, SM-1, M1D, and SP-4 liquid media, and on SP-4 solid medium in either aerobic or anaerobic environments. The optimum temperature for growth was 32°C, but multiplication occurred over a wide temperature range (10 to 37°C). The doubling time at 32°C in M1D medium was 1.9 h. Strain MQ-1^T catabolized glucose but hydrolyzed neither arginine nor urea. Previous work showed that strain MQ-1^T has a unique methylase, previously known only in eucaryotes. Also, strain MQ-1^T induces production of tumor necrosis factor in bone marrow macrophages. The guanine-plus-cytosine content of the DNA was 28 ± 1 mol%. The genome size of strain MQ-1^T was 940 kb (627 MDa); a similar strain, MQ-8, had a genome size of 985 kb (657 MDa). Strain MQ-1^T and its allies have the smallest genomes known in the genus Spiroplasma. Strain MQ-1 (=ATCC 33825) is designated the type strain of a new species, Spiroplasma monobiae.