Mycoplasma genitalium

Mycoplasma genitalium
File:Mycoplasma genitalium.gif
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Bacteria Division: Firmicutes Class: Mollicutes Order: Mycoplasmatales Family: Mycoplasmataceae Genus: Mycoplasma Species: M. genitalium
Binomial name
Mycoplasma genitalium Tully et al., 1983

Mycoplasma genitalium is a small parasitic bacterium which lives on the ciliated epithelial cells of the primate genital and respiratory tracts. M. genitalium is the smallest known free-living bacterium, and the second-smallest bacterium after the recently-discovered endosymbiont Carsonella ruddii. Until the discovery of Nanoarchaeum in 2002, M. genitalium was also considered to be the organism with the smallest genome (aside from viruses).

Mycoplasma genitalium was originally isolated in 1980 from urethral specimens of two male patients with non-gonococcal urethritis. Infection by M. genitalium seems fairly common, can be transmitted between partners during unprotected sexual intercourse, and can be treated with antibiotics; however, the organism's role in genital diseases is still unclear.

The genome of M. genitalium consists of approximately 580,000 base pairs, which are split into 74 fragments by the enzyme EcoRI. An initial study of the M. genitalium genome with random sequencing was performed by Peterson in 1993. It was then sequenced by Fraser and others (Science 270:397-403 (1995)). It was found to contain only 470 predicted coding regions, including genes required for DNA replication, transcription and translation, DNA repair, cellular transport, and energy metabolism. It was the second complete bacterial genome ever sequenced, after Haemophilus influenzae. The small genome of M. genitalium made it the organism of choice in The Minimal Genome Project, a study to find the smallest set of genetic material necessary to sustain life.

Synthetic life

In October of 2007, a team of scientists headed by controversial DNA researcher Craig Venter and Nobel laureate Hamilton Smith announced that they plan to create the first artificial life form in history by creating a synthetic chromosome which they plan to inject into the M. genitalium bacterium, potentially resulting in an artificial species dubbed Mycoplasma laboratorium. [1]

Antimicrobial Regimen

• 1. Urethritis and cervicitis

• Preferred regimen (macrolide-susceptible strains) (1): Azithromycin 1 g PO as a single dose
• Preferred regimen (macrolide-susceptible strains) (2): Azithromycin 500 mg PO as a dose followed by 250 mg PO qd for 4 days
• Preferred regimen (for patients with previous treatment failures): Moxifloxacin 400 mg PO qd for 7–14 days

• 2. Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)

• Preferred regimen: Moxifloxacin 400 mg PO qd for 14 days

• 3. Specific considerations

• 3.1 Management of sex partners
• Sex partners should be managed according to guidelines for patients with nongonococcal urethritis, cervicitis, and pelvic inflammatory disease.
• 3.2 HIV infection
• Persons who have an M. genitalium infection and HIV infection should receive the same treatment regimen as those who are HIV negative.

See also

• The Minimal Genome Project
• Candidatus Carsonella ruddii

External links

• Mycoplasma genitalium Reference Work at the UK Health Protection Agency
• Mycoplasma genitalium G-37 genome page