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Acholeplasma brassicae sp. nov. and Acholeplasma palmae sp. nov., Two Non-Sterol-Requiring Mollicutes from Plant Surfaces

JOSEPH G. TULLY^1,*, ROBERT F. WHITCOMB², DAVID L. ROSE^1,, JOSEPH M. BOVɳ, PATRICIA CARLE³, NORMAN L. SOMERSON^4,, DAVID L. WILLIAMSON⁵ and SIMON EDEN-GREEN⁶

¹Mycoplasma Section, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Frederick Cancer Research and Development Center, Frederick, Maryland 21702
²Insect Biocontrol Laboratory, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, Maryland 20705
³Laboratoire de Biologie Cellulaire et Moleculaire, Institut National Recherche Agronomique and Université de Bordeaux II, 33883 Villenave d'Ornon Cedex, France
⁴Department of Microbiology, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210
⁵Department of Anatomical Sciences, State University of New York, Stony Brook, New York 11794
⁶National Resources Institute, Chatham, Kent, England ME4 4TB

^* Corresponding author. Mycoplasma Section, NIAID, Bldg. 550, Frederick Cancer Res. Dev. Center, Frederick, MD 21702. Phone: (301) 846-1192. Fax: (301) 846-5165.

ABSTRACT

Two mollicutes (strains 0502^T [T = type strain] and J233^T), which were isolated from the surfaces of broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica) plants or the crown tissues of the coconut palm (Cocos nucifera), were capable of sustained growth in serum-free (or cholesterol-free) mycoplasma broth media. Examination by electron and dark-field microscopic techniques revealed that the cells of each strain were small, nonhelical, nonmotile, pleomorphic, and coccoid and that each cell was surrounded by a single cytoplasmic membrane. No evidence of a cell wall was found. The organisms were filterable and grew rapidly in most conventional mycoplasma culture medium formulations containing horse or fetal bovine sera under either aerobic or anaerobic conditions. The optimum temperature for growth of both organisms was 30°C, but multiplication occurred over a temperature range from 18 to 37°C. Both strains catabolized glucose, but did not hydrolyze arbutin, arginine, or urea. The genome size of strain 0502^T was 1,215 kbp, and the DNA base composition (guanine-plus-cytosine content) was 35.5 mol%. The genome size of strain J233^T was 1,610 kbp, and the DNA base composition was 30.0 mol%. The two isolates were not serologically related to each other or to the type strains of 11 previously described Acholeplasma species. Strain 0502 (= ATCC 49388) is the type strain of Acholeplasma brassicae sp. nov., and strain J233 (= ATCC 49389) is the type strain of Acholeplasma palmae sp. nov.

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