''Acholeplasma'' are wall-less
bacteria
Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of Prokaryote, prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micr ...
in the
Mollicutes
Mollicutes is a class of bacteria distinguished by the absence of a cell wall and its peptidoglycan. The word "Mollicutes" is derived from the Latin ' (meaning "soft" or "pliable"), and ' (meaning "skin"). Individuals are very small, typically on ...
class. They include
saprotrophic or
pathogenic
In biology, a pathogen (, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of"), in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a germ.
The term ...
species. There are 15 recognised species. The
G+C content is low, ranging from 26 – 36% (
mol%). The
genome
A genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding genes, other functional regions of the genome such as ...
s of ''Acholeplasma'' species range in size from 1.5 to 1.65 Mbp.
Cholesterol
Cholesterol is the principal sterol of all higher animals, distributed in body Tissue (biology), tissues, especially the brain and spinal cord, and in Animal fat, animal fats and oils.
Cholesterol is biosynthesis, biosynthesized by all anima ...
is not required for growth. The species are found on animals, and some plants and insects. The optimum growth temperature is 30 to 37 degrees Celsius.
''Acholeplasma laidlawii'' is a common contaminant of cell culture media products, and has also been used in extensive studies of lipid polymorphism because this organism alters its ratio of MGlcDG (monoglucosyl diacylglycerol) to DGlcDG (diglucosyl diacylglycerol) in response to growth conditions.
Phylogeny
See also
*
List of bacteria genera
This article lists the genera of the bacteria
Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of Prokaryote, ...
*
List of bacterial orders
This article lists the orders of the Bacteria. The currently accepted taxonomy is based on the List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature (LPSN) and National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI)
and the phylogeny is based on 16 ...
References
Mollicutes
Cryozoa
Bacteria genera
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