phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at o:4087 DOI 10.3390/ani15070937 The First Report of Mycoplasmas in Antarctic Pinnipeds: The Results of a Survey The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of Mycoplasma spp. and their identification in seals from Antarctica. During January and February 2010, 59 Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella), 17 Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii), and 5 Southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) were captured in three Antarctic islands. Oral and genital samples were collected, cultured, and cloned. The Intergenic Spacer Region 16S-23S rDNA (ISR) PCR products were sent for sequencing. Seventy-four (91.4%) out of the eighty-one seals sampled were PCR positive. From those, 57 isolates were cultured. Mycoplasmas were more prevalent in the mouth in comparison to the reproductive tract. The percentage of isolates were 76.3%, 58.8%, and 40.0% for Antarctic fur seals, Weddell seals, and Southern elephant seals, respectively. The ISR sequences divided the isolates into six clusters. Four clusters presented a very high similarity percentage with mycoplasma sequences obtained from seals. However, none of these mycoplasmas have been described to date. Cluster 1 is also close to M. miroungigenitalium. This study represents the first report of Mycoplasma species adapted to Antarctic pinnipeds. The findings contribute to the understanding of the ecology of mycoplasmas in Antarctic pinnipeds. eng Et-Al. 1989 Phoca-Vitulina Sp-Nov Identification Phocicerebrale Phocirhinis Association Phocidae 2025-04-29T07:41:24.518Z LOMv1.0 Author BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Vega-Orellana;Orestes M.; FN:Orestes M. Vega-Orellana X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2584-2349 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Rosales;Rubén S.; FN:Rubén S. Rosales X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3706-0181 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Poveda;José B.; FN:José B. Poveda X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9846-2427 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:García-Peña;Francisco J.; FN:Francisco J. García-Peña END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:García-Párraga;Daniel; FN:Daniel García-Párraga X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3335-5831 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Pedraza-Díaz;Susana; FN:Susana Pedraza-Díaz X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9401-6473 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Ortega-Mora;Luis M.; FN:Luis M. Ortega-Mora X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4986-6783 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Spergser;Joachim; FN:Joachim Spergser X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0164-0179 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Ramírez;Ana S.; FN:Ana S. Ramírez X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8721-775X END:VCARD https://w3id.org/kim/hcrt/scheme https://w3id.org/kim/hcrt/text Textdokument Text LOMv1.0 yes https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 application/pdf 611554 https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/o:4087 https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/api/object/o:4087/thumbnail LOMv1.0 discipline