Genetic and serological analysis of the immunogenic 67-kDa lipoprotein of Mycoplasma sp. bovine group 7.

The gene encoding a lipoprotein of 67 kDa, named P67, was cloned from Mycoplasma sp. bovine group 7 strain PG50 and expressed in Escherichia coli K12. Analysis of the amino acid sequence derived from the DNA sequence of the P67 gene revealed a typical prokaryotic signal peptidase II membrane lipoprotein lipid attachment site and a transmembrane structure domain in the leader sequence at the amino-terminal end of the protein. Protein P67 showed 91% identical amino acid residues to the lipoprotein P72 of Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides small colony type (SC) and 53% identical amino acid residues to a peptide of an unassigned gene on the genome of Mycoplasma capricolum subsp. capricolum. Antibodies made against recombinant P67 reacted with a 67-kDa protein in all Mycoplasma sp. bovine group 7 strains tested and also, to some extent, with P72 of Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides SC. The gene encoding P67 was present in all strains of Mycoplasma sp. bovine group 7 analysed, but not in other Mycoplasma sp. of the "mycoides cluster" and not in the phylogenetically related Mycoplasma putrefaciens. PCR and restriction fragment analysis revealed that the gene of P67 is conserved in all strains of Mycoplasma sp. bovine group 7. A specific PCR reaction based on the P67 gene sequence enabled rapid identification of strains belonging to Mycoplasma sp. bovine group 7.