Isolation of Mycoplasma moatsii from the intestine of wild Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus).

The intestinal tracts of twenty inbred SPF rats (LEW, BN, WKY, DA) and six wild Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus Berkenhout 1769) were investigated for mycoplasmas. Cultivation was in three different media. Mycoplasmas were not isolated from the intestine of the inbred SPF rats but were found in the epithelia and contents of caecum, colon and jejunum as well as in fecal samples of all of the wild Norway rats investigated. The mycoplasmas isolated all belonged to the same species, and were identified as Mycoplasma moatsii, originally isolated from grivit monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops) and thought to be specific for this host.