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Reduction of Benzyl Viologen Distinguishes Genera of the Class Mollicutes

¹Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology. The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210
²Mycoplasma Section, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Frederick Cancer Research Facility, Frederick, Maryland 21702
³Department of Biology and Medical Laboratory Technology, Bronx Community College-City University of New York, Bronx, New York 10453
⁴Insect Biocontrol Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, Maryland 20705
⁵Division of Life Sciences, Kings College, University of London, London W8 7AH, England

^* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, The Ohio State University, 333 West 10th Ave., Columbus, OH 43210. Phone: (614) 292-8352. Fax: (614) 292-9805. Electronic mail address: pollack.1{at}osu.edu.

ABSTRACT

We tested the ability of 62 growing strains belonging to the class Mollicutes to reduce the redox indicator and free-radical generator 1,1'-dibenzyl-4,4'-bipyridinium dichloride (benzyl viologen [BV]) to a blue-violet-purple color. BV was reduced by 12 Acholeplasma species but not by Acholeplasma multiforme PN525^T (T = type strain). BV was also reduced by five of nine Mesoplasma species and by four of six Entomoplasma species. BV was not reduced by 19 Mycoplasma species, six Spiroplasma species, five unnamed Spiroplasma strains belonging to different serogroups, three Ureaplasma species, and one unnamed Ureaplasma strain. The BV-reducing ability was localized in the membrane of Acholeplasma laidlawii B-PG9 and was dependent on NADH. Reduction of BV could be expressed in mixed cultures, and this activity may be useful for recognizing the contaminating presence of an Acholeplasma species. The reductive BV response may have phylogenetic value. We believe that the test described in this paper readily distinguishes all Acholeplasma species and some Mesoplasma and Entomoplasma species from all Mycoplasma, Spiroplasma, and Ureaplasma species tested.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				D. R. Brown, R. F. Whitcomb, and J. M. Bradbury Revised minimal standards for description of new species of the class Mollicutes (division Tenericutes) Int J Syst Evol Microbiol, November 1, 2007; 57(11): 2703 - 2719. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]