marA and sdiA overexpression was a common feature of multidrug-resistant mutants selected by growth in lomefloxacin and ceftazidime. To our knowledge, this report is the first to describe in vitro selection with a fluoroquinolone or ceftazidime triggering sdiA overexpression in E. coli isolates.

An epizootiological study was carried out by investigation of 562 birds for mycoplasmas. The birds belonged to 18 different domestic and wild avian species of the following orders: Galliformes, Anseriformes, Gruiformes, Passeriformes, Columbiformes, Falconiformes, Psittasiformes and Trogoniformes. Eighty nine (15%) of the trachea and oropharynx samples examined were mycoplasma positive and 108 mycoplasma isolates were obtained and identified by the growth inhibition test, using rabbit antisera against fifteen avian mycoplasma species. The species most frequently detected were Mycoplasma gallinarum (27.7%), M. gallinaceum (17.5%), M. iners (14.8%), M. pullorum (7.4%), M. columbinum (7.4%), M. anatis (6.4%), M. synoviae (4.6%) and M. gallisepticum (3.7%). Four strains isolated from griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus) could not be identified with antisera against the 15 described avian mycoplasma species.

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A total of 120 mycoplasma strains were recovered from 97 of 265 diseased seals investigated during the seal epidemic in the North Sea and in the Baltic Sea in 1988. Mycoplasmas were isolated from the respiratory tracts (including lungs), hearts, brains, and eyes of the seals. Thirty strains were filter cloned and investigated for their morphological, biochemical, and serological characteristics compared with the characteristics of previously described species. The results of an indirect immunofluorescence test, a growth inhibition test, and an immunobinding assay showed that these strains belong to two new species, for which the names MycopZasrna phocarhinis and Mycoplasrna phocacerebrde are proposed. M. phocarhinis (17 strains) did not ferment glucose or hydrolyze arginine but did reduce tetrazolium chloride and potassium tellurite and produced films and spots. M. phocacerebrale (13 strains) metabolized arginine but not glucose and produced phosphatase but did not reduce tetrazolium chloride and potassium tellurite. Both species lysed sheep erythrocytes but did not absorb sheep or guinea pig erythrocytes. The type strain of M. phocarhinis is strain 852 (= ATCC 49639), and the type strain of M. phocacerebrate is strain 1049 (= ATCC 49640).In 1988 mass mortality spread among the harbor seals (Phoca vitulina L.) of the Baltic Sea and the North Sea.More than 18,000 seals died because of an acute disease characterized by pneumonia, skin lesions, diarrhoea, polyarthritis, nervous signs, and abortions in pregnant females (9,10,12,16,17,(19)(20)(21). In addition to several viruses (9,10, 19-21), mycoplasmas were isolated from a large number of the diseased seals (12). Altogether 122 mycoplasma strains were recovered from 265 diseased seals investigated.In this paper we report the isolation details of these strains, describe our taxonomic examination of 30 selected strains compared with previously described species of Mollicutes, and discuss our findings in relation to the requirements for description of new species. MATERIALS AND METHODS Seals.Investigations for mycoplasmas were performed on 265 seals found moribund or dead along the coasts of Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony (10,12,19). Organ materials from seals found dead were taken by M. Stede (Staatliches Veterinaruntersuchungsamt, Cuxhaven, Federal Republic of Germany). Samples from living animals were obtained from the Institute for Pathology, Tierarztliche Hochschule, Hannover, Federal Republic of Germany, where moribund seals were sacrificed for histological investigations, or from the seal orphanage at Norddeich, Federal Republic of Germany, where diseased seals were kept for treatment. Swabs were taken from noses, eyes, and throats of living animals. Samples of tracheae, lungs, hearts, livers, brains, kidneys, and spleens were obtained from dead or sacrificed animals.Cultivation of mycoplasmas. Homogenized organ materials and swabs were suspended in 2 ml of modified Friis medium (13). Portions (0.2 ml) of these suspensions were transferred to 2-ml portion...

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