Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 11
Mollicutes
“The old idea that wall-less bacteria, mycoplasmas, are phylogenetically remote
from other (eu)bacteria is incorrect; the true mycoplasmas are merely 'degenerate'
clostridia.”
Carl Woese [21]
Bacteria
Proteobacteria
Alpha Proteobacteria (Chapter 5)
Beta Proteobacteria (Chapter 6)
Gamma Proteobacteria (Chapter 7)
Epsilon Proteobacteria (Chapter 8)
Spirochaetes (Chapter 9)
Bacteroidetes (Chapter 10)
Fusobacteria (Chapter 10)
Firmicutes (low G
C Gram
)
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1
Bacilli (Chapter 12)
Clostridia (Chapter 12)
Mollicutes (Chapter 11)
Anaeroplasmatales
*Erysipelothrix
Mycoplasmataceae
*Mycoplasma
*Ureaplasma
Chlamydiae (Chapter 13)
Actinobacteria (Chapter 14)
Class Mollicutes is essentially synonymous with several other classes that
appear in the literature: Class Aphragmabacteria, Class Tenericutes, and
Class Mycoplasmas. Mollicutes (Latin “mollis,” soft and “cutis,” skin) are
intracellular parasitic organisms that lack cell walls. Like many other para-
sitic organisms, they have jettisoned many of their inherited functionalities,
preferring to live on the largesse of their hosts. Aside from shedding their
