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Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

Veterinary bacteriology: information about important bacteria
Veterinary bacteriology


Species/Subspecies: Eperythrozoon suis
Etymology: Genus name: "animals" on red blood cells.
Species epithet: of pig.
Significance:  [Important]   
Alternative Species Name(s):Mycoplasma suis
Taxonomy:
Phylum
Mycoplasmatota
Class
Mollicutes
Order
Mycoplasmoidales
Family
Mycoplasmoidaceae 
Genus
Eperythrozoon
Type Strain: Finns ej definierad.
Macromorphology (smell): Cannot be cultivated on artificial media.
Micromorphology: Very small and pleomorphic
Gram +/Gram -:G-, but is normally not gram stained because the cells will then be fragmented.
Catalase/Oxidase:
Spec. Char.: Lacks the cell wall (as other mollicutes) and colonize the surface of erythrocytes.
Special Media:
Disease:Anemia
Hosts: Pig
Clinical Picture:
Genome Sequence:
Acc-noStrainSize (bp)Genome
CP002525 Illinois 0 742 431 1c + 0 
Two strains have been sequenced and plasmids have not been found.

16S rRNA Seq.:
Acc-noStrainNumber of NTOperon
AY492086 Guangdong 1 468 

Taxonomy/phylogeny:
Eperythrozoon suis  
About 10 species of mollicutes have been described within the genus Eperythrozoon. Members of this genus was earlier referred to as hemotropic mycoplasmas because they colonize the surface of red blood cells. Now they should be called hemotropic mollicutes because they are not affiliated to the orderMycoplasmatales any longer, but the order Mycoplasmoidales. They are related to mollicutes within the genera Malacoplasmas, Mycoplasmoides and Ureaplasma. It was believed for a long time that the hemotropic mollicutes were rickettsias, but by phylogenetic methods among others, it has been proved that they really are mollicutes.

Note that in the phylogenetic tree (Fig. 42:1) E. felis and E. suis are still called M. haemofelis and M. suis, respectively. Also note that the letter M in the tree can mean Mycoplasma, Mesomycoplasma, Metamycoplasma, Mycoplasmoides or Mycoplasmopsis.

Comment:Based on whole genome sequencing, the taxonomy of mycoplasmas has recently undergone a comprehensive revision. The new taxonomy is about to be introduced in VetBact, but it will still be possible to search for the alternative species names. Read more about the revised taxonomy of the mollicutes under the Term list of VetBact and see reference 164 below.
Reference(s): No. 164
Updated:2023-03-15

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