Isolation of anaerobic mollicutes from the intestine of swine.

Anaerobic mollicutes were isolated from the intestinal content and the epithelium of the caecum and colon of 4 of 8 swine. All of the isolates belonged to the same species. This species was resistant to digitonin and polyanethol sulfonate and was able to ferment glucose, hemolyse erythrocytes and lyse horse serum. For testing the cholesterol requirement the strain 4 A 11 was selected which was independent of cholesterol. The agent was different in the immunofluorescence test from the mollicutes reported previously in swine and quite different in its nutritional requirements from cholesterol-independent mollicutes isolated from the rumen of cattle and sheep. Thus the isolated mollicutes seem to represent a new species.