Abstract
Summary
Twelve different species of Mycoplasma and Acholeplasma were shown to induce interferon in ovine peripheral blood leukocyte cultures. Interferon production reached mean peak levels ranging from 35 units/ml for M. hominis to 960 units/ml for M. pneumoniae by 24-48 hr after infection. Two other mycoplasmas, M. arginini and M. neurolyticum, were able to induce low levels of interferon on only one occasion. Acholeplasma axanthum, M. hyosynoviae, M. mycoides var. capri, and Mycoplasmatales virus MVL51 failed to induce interferon in the leukocyte cultures. All 17 mycoplasmal species tested were capable of replicating in the sheep leukocyte cultures, although certain species (e.g., M. pulmonis) failed to multiply in every experiment. There was no consistent correlation between the degree of replication and the amount of interferon induced, and interferon production did not appear to relate to leukocyte cytotoxicity secondary to the mycoplasmal infection. The antiviral substance induced by the mycoplasmas was characterized as interferon by the usual criteria.
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