The growth precipitation test as a diagnostic method for differentiation of mycoplasma and acholeplasma species.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the growth precipitation (GP) test for routine identification. The test was performed as described by (1978) which is a modification of the method of (1972). On the basis of examination of 82 strains, using indirect immunofluorescence (IMF) and growth inhibition (GI) as well as GP tests it is concluded that the GP test seems to be very useful for species identification in the genus Acholeplasma, as this method displayed fewer cross-reactions between species than the other 2 tests. When applied to the genus Mycoplasma, however, the GP test is not species-specific, due to cross reactions observed within the group of arginine positive and within the group of glucose and scrum digestion positive species. In the genus Mycoplasma the method can only be used as a screening tool, and final identification is in general based on growth inhibition and immunofluorescence.