Diagnosis of Mycoplasma from Starlings Lungs

Abstract

Starlings have tremendous economic and environmental impacts because they can spread pathogensto livestock and poultry. These birds act as mechanical and biological carriers for different types of pathogens from and to their original habitat. The goal of this study was to ascertain the presence of Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) in the starlings' lungs and confirm their diagnosis using the PCR technique. We altered the supplements that were added to Mycoplasma culture media by using calf serum instead of horse serum and sulphadimidine plus trimethoprim with nystatin instead of thallous acetate. Eighty-five starlings were bought from hunters in the spring of 2019, and their lungs were harvested and divided into two portions, one for Mycoplasma cultivation and the other for DNA extraction. Fifty-nine (69.4%) samples were positive for Mycoplasma colonies, thereby yielding accurate results using alternative supplements in the culture media. PCR revealed the presence of Mycoplasma in 78.8% lung samples, while MG was detected in only 43.3% of the positive samples, indicating the presence of other species of Mycoplasma too. The current study is the first of its kind not only in Iraq but also in the world, investigating the presence of MG in the lungs of starling birds. This study revealed that MG is significantly prevalent in starlings and also suggests that other Mycoplasma species may be present in starlings.

Detection of Mycoplasma gallisepticum in broiler by PCR

“…For the diagnoses of MG by PCR technique, two pairs of PCR primers were used Table 1 and consisted of universal primer pair for the genus of Mycoplasma depending on 16S rRNA sequences and the second pair was specific for MG according to ( Aghabalaei and Hedaiati, 2012 ; Malekhoseini et al ., 2017 ), and the efficacy of these primers was confirmed by ( Hamad et al ., 2019a , 2019b ; Al-dabbagh et al ., 2021 ). primers were synthesized by Bioneer Co., Korea.…”

“…PCR reaction was operated in whole size 25 µl as in Kit and consisted of: 5 µl from extracting DNA (template), 1 µl of every primer, 2 µl of MgCl 2 , 6 µl of PCR water, and 10 µl of 2.5× prepared Mastermix solution. The control positive in both PCR runs was supplied by Hamad et al . (2019a and 2019b ).…”

“…DNA has extracted from broilers’ specimens ( Kilic et al ., 2013 ; Hamad et al ., 2019a , 2019b ), for that 25 mg of each lung was cut and summed in the disposable container and kept at −80°C to be used later ( Santos et al ., 2010 ). DNA extraction kit was supplied by gSYNC™ Geneaid extraction kit, Korea.…”

“…such as house finches, quails, guinea fowl, geese, starlings, etc. ( Hamad et al ., 2019a ; Matucci et al ., 2020 ). MG infection usually causes chronic respiratory disease (CRD) in chickens ( Yadav et al .…”

European Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) as Vectors and Reservoirs of Pathogens Affecting Humans and Domestic Livestock

“…These bacteria, a group with no external cell wall and very small cell size, include a number of species of potential interest to humans, including pathogens of humans and livestock. One study demonstrated that starlings can carry species potentially detrimental to poultry [ 52 ], although another [ 53 ] failed to find evidence of infection in starlings. Little is known about their importance in the natural dynamics of these species in wild and captive animal populations.…”