Mycoplasma genitalium
Pear/flask shaped with a terminal tip organelle.
Assists attachment to various surfaces and provides gliding motility
Genome of 580KB.
Has a comparatively higher G+C content than other mycoplasmas.
"One of the smallest prokaryotes capable of replication" ​
An established cause of Nongonococcal urethritis in men.
DNA fluorochromes e.g. acridine orange stain may be applied to body fluids after centrifugation.
There is no reliable medium to culture this species but it can be made in cell cultures, which is time-consuming yet effective or it can also be detected by PCR.
Ecology
The main adhesin on the terminal tip has been identified as the MgPa protein
This encodes for P110 and P140 which are cytadhesins and the loss of these proteins would result in loss of motility and adherence to cells
Can show antigenic variation of surface components to evade the hosts immune system. They may also mimic the hosts antigens to survive.​
