Phylogeny:

Information Found on Tree of life.com

The phyogenetic tree is based primarily on morphological features of a bacteria. We see that Mycoplasma bovis is classified as a low gram positive bacteria even though it lacks a cell wall. This is due to a small portion of peptidoglycan surfacing in the 3 layered membrane surrounding the cell. (for more information go to adaptations)

-Another interesting thing to note is the organisms related to Mycoplasma bovis. We see that Mycoplasmas span a large range of different hosts including us. This is seen in Mycoplasma pneumonia which causes many problems in hospitals today. Species of Mycoplasma have also been linked to many diseases including: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Asthma, and Alzheimers (Taylor 2001).

- Going back farther to more distant relatives we see that bacteria such as Clostridium (Clostridium tetani, Clostridium botulinum) do have some ties to Mycoplasma bovis. Clostridium is known to cause the production of toxins in food sources and can cause botulism. Primarily the two organisms are related due to the relatively low concentration of peptidoglycan.

Created By: Garrett Blumer
University of Wisconsin- La Crosse
Page last updated: April 25, 2008