Background Mycoplasma synoviae causes infectious synovitis and respiratory diseases in chickens and turkeys and may lead to egg shell apex abnormalities in chickens; hence possesses high economic impact on the poultry industry. Control of the disease consists of eradication, vaccination or medication. The aim of the present study was to determine the in vitro susceptibility to 14 different antibiotics and an antibiotic combination of M. synoviae strains originating from Hungary and other countries of Central and Eastern Europe.ResultsMinimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of a total of 41 M. synoviae strains were determined by the microbroth dilution method. The strains were collected between 2002 and 2016 and originated from Hungary (n = 26), Austria (n = 3), the Czech Republic (n = 3), Slovenia (n = 3), Ukraine (n = 3), Russia (n = 2) and Serbia (n = 1). Tetracyclines (with MIC50 values of 0.078 μg/ml, ≤0.25 μg/ml and 0.5 μg/ml for doxycycline, oxytetracycline and chlortetracycline, respectively), macrolides (with MIC50 values of ≤0.25 μg/ml for tylvalosin, tylosin and tilmicosin), pleuromutilins (with MIC50 values of 0.078 μg/ml and ≤0.039 μg/ml for tiamulin and valnemulin) and the combination of lincomycin and spectinomycin (MIC50 1 μg/ml (0.333/0.667 μg/ml)) were found to be the most effective antibiotic agents against M. synoviae in vitro. High MIC values were detected in numerous strains for fluoroquinolones (with MIC50 values of 1.25 μg/ml and 2.5 μg/ml for enrofloxacin and difloxacin), neomycin (MIC50 32 μg/ml), spectinomycin (MIC50 2 μg/ml), lincomycin (MIC50 0.5 μg/ml) and florfenicol (MIC50 4 μg/ml). Nevertheless, strains with elevated MIC values were detected for most of the applied antibiotics.ConclusionsIn the medical control of M. synoviae infections the preliminary in vitro antibiotic susceptibility testing and the careful evaluation of the data are crucial. Based on the in vitro examinations doxycycline, oxytetracycline, tylvalosin, tylosin and pleuromutilins could be recommended for the therapy of M. synoviae infections in the region.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12917-017-1266-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

BackgroundMycoplasma sp. 1220 can induce inflammation primarily in the genital and respiratory tracts of waterfowl, leading to serious economic losses. Adequate housing and appropriate antibiotic treatment are promoted in the control of the disease. The aim of the present study was to determine the in vitro susceptibility to thirteen different antibiotics and an antibiotic combination of thirty-eight M. sp. 1220 strains isolated from geese and a duck in several parts of Hungary, Central Europe between 2011 and 2015.ResultsHigh MIC50 values were observed in the cases of tilmicosin (>64 μg/ml), oxytetracycline (64 μg/ml), norfloxacin (>10 μg/ml) and difloxacin (10 μg/ml). The examined strains yielded the same MIC50 values with spectinomycin, tylosin and florfenicol (8 μg/ml), while enrofloxacin (MIC50 5 μg/ml), doxycycline (MIC50 5 μg/ml), lincomycin (MIC50 4 μg/ml) and lincomycin-spectinomycin (1:2) combination (MIC50 4 μg/ml) inhibited the growth of the bacteria with lower concentrations. Tylvalosin (MIC50 0.5 μg/ml) and two pleuromutilins (tiamulin MIC50 0.625 μg/ml; valnemulin MIC50 ≤ 0.039 μg/ml) were found to be the most effective drugs against M. sp. 1220. However, strains with elevated MIC values were detected for all applied antibiotics.ConclusionsValnemulin, tiamulin and tylvalosin were found to be the most effective antibiotics in the study. Increasing resistance was observed in the cases of several antibiotics. The results highlight the importance of testing Mycoplasma species for antibiotic susceptibility before therapy.

The GenBank accession numbers for the 16S rRNA gene sequence and the genome of the strain 1220 T are EU597750 and CP042295, respectively, and the GenBank accession numbers for other housekeeping genes used for the genetic characterization of each novel species described in this study are provided in the manuscript. †These authors contributed equally to this work Two supplementary figures, two supplementary tables and one supplementary document are available with the online version of this article.

Mycoplasma anatis , M . anseris , M . cloacale and M . sp. 1220 colonise geese and ducks, and could be associated with infections of avian respiratory and nervous systems, cause mild to severe inflammation of cloaca and genital tracts, and embryo lethality. Co-occurrence of these Mycoplasma species in waterfowl is frequently detected and the identification of these mycoplasmas to the species level at a regular microbiology laboratory is difficult due to their similar morphological, cultural and biochemical properties. Moreover, species differentiation is only possible based on the sequence analysis of the product of a genus-specific PCR assay. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to develop an effective and robust method for the identification of these species in avian clinical specimens. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays using species-specific primers, which target housekeeping genes in order to identify these species, were designed in the present study. The developed PCR assays can precisely identify these four mycoplasmas to the species level directly from DNA samples extracted from clinical specimens, and no cross-amplification was observed among these species and with other well-known avian mycoplasmas. The average sensitivity of the assays was 10 1 −10 2 genomic equivalents per reaction. These conventional PCR assays can be run simultaneously at the same PCR cycling program, and the species can be differentiated directly (without sequence analysis) by gel electrophoresis due to the specific sizes of the amplicons. In conclusion, the presented species-specific assays were found to be suitable for routine use at regular veterinary diagnostic laboratories and promote the rapid, simple and cost-effective differentiation of these waterfowl Mycoplasma species.

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Mycoplasma synoviae is an economically significant pathogen in the poultry industry, inducing respiratory disease and infectious synovitis in chickens and turkeys, and eggshell apex abnormality in chickens. Eradication, medication and vaccination are the options for controlling M. synoviae infection. Currently there are two commercial, live, attenuated vaccines available against M. synoviae: the temperature sensitive MS-H vaccine strain and the NAD independent MS1 vaccine strain. Differentiation of vaccine strains from field isolates is essential during vaccination and eradication programs. The present study provides melt-curve and agarose gel based mismatch amplification mutation assays (MAMA) to discriminate the MS1 vaccine strain from the MS-H vaccine strain and wild-type M. synoviae isolates. The assays are based on the A/C single nucleotide polymorphism at nt11 of a HIT family protein coding gene. The melt- and agarose-MAMAs reliably distinguish the MS1 vaccine strain genotype from the MS-H vaccine strain and wild-type M. synoviae isolate genotype from 102 template number/DNA sample. No cross-reactions with other avian Mycoplasma species were observed. The assays can be performed directly on clinical samples and they can be run simultaneously with the previously described MAMAs designed for the discrimination of the MS-H vaccine strain. The developed assays are applicable in laboratories with limited facilities and promote the rapid, simple and cost effective differentiation of the MS1 vaccine strain.

Background: Mycoplasma anserisalpingitidis causes significant economic losses in the domestic goose (Anser anser) industry in Europe. As 95% of the global goose production is in China where the primary species is the swan goose (Anser cygnoides), it is crucial to know whether the agent is present in this region of the world. Results: Purulent cloaca and purulent or necrotic phallus inflammation were observed in affected animals which represented 1-2% of a swan goose breeding flock (75,000 animals) near Guanghzou, China, in September 2019. From twelve sampled animals the cloaca swabs of five birds (three male, two female) were demonstrated to be M. anserisalpingitidis positive by PCR and the agent was successfully isolated from the samples of three female geese. Based on whole genome sequence analysis, the examined isolate showed high genetic similarity (84.67%) with the European isolates. The antibiotic susceptibility profiles of two swan goose isolates, determined by microbroth dilution method against 12 antibiotics and an antibiotic combination were also similar to the European domestic goose ones with tylvalosin and tiamulin being the most effective drugs. Conclusions: To the best of our knowledge this is the first description of M. anserisalpingitidis infection in swan goose, thus the study highlights the importance of mycoplasmosis in the goose industry on a global scale.

Mycoplasma anserisalpingitis is a goose pathogen. The main symptoms in affected flocks are inflammation of the cloaca and the reproductive organs, decreased egg production, and increased embryo mortality. Here, we report the complete genome sequences of the type strain (ATCC BAA-2147) and two clinical isolates.