Reclassification of Mesoplasma pleciae as Acholeplasma pleciae comb. nov. on the basis of 16S rRNA and gyrB gene sequence data

MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA Correspondence Thomas F. Knight Jr tk{at}mit.edu Genomic DNA sequence data for the 16S rRNA gene and the gyrB gene of Mesoplasma pleciae PS-1 T (=ATCC 49582 T =NBRC 100476 T ) demonstrate a much closer relationship to Acholeplasma laidlawii and Acholeplasma oculi than to other species in the order Entomoplasmatales . In addition, the preferred use of UGG rather than UGA as the codon for tryptophan in the gyrB sequence probably places the organism outside the order Entomoplasmatales . It is proposed that M. pleciae be reclassified in the genus Acholeplasma , as Acholeplasma pleciae comb. nov. Published online ahead of print on 16 April 2004 as DOI 10.1099/ijs.0.02904-0. The GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession number for the 16S rRNA gene sequence of Mesoplasma pleciae PS-1 T is AY257485 ; that for the partial gyrB sequence of M. pleciae PS-1 T is AY257486 .