What is Mycoplasma?
Mar 20, 2025
Source: Cainiu Health
Dr. Yang Ziqi
Introduction
Mycoplasma typically measure 0.1-0.3 micrometers in size and are the smallest prokaryotic cellular microorganisms between bacteria and viruses. Mycoplasma lack cell walls and exhibit diverse morphologies, which can be spherical, rod-shaped, filamentous, and so on, thus demonstrating high pleomorphism. Mycoplasma can cause various diseases; the main species pathogenic to humans include Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Mycoplasma genitalium, and Mycoplasma hominis.
Under normal circumstances, mycoplasma is a type of prokaryotic microorganism that has a simple structure, lacks a cell wall, exhibits diverse morphology, and is the smallest organism capable of growing and reproducing on non-living culture media. A detailed analysis is as follows:
Mycoplasma typically measures 0.1-0.3 micrometers in size, making it the smallest prokaryotic microorganism between bacteria and viruses. Mycoplasma lacks a cell wall and exhibits diverse shapes, which can be spherical, rod-like, or filamentous, giving it a high degree of pleomorphism. Mycoplasma can cause various diseases; the main species pathogenic to humans include Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Mycoplasma genitalium, and Mycoplasma hominis. These mycoplasmas can cause respiratory tract infections and urogenital tract infections. In addition, mycoplasma can be transmitted through sexual contact, causing urogenital infections such as urethritis and prostatitis. It is susceptible to various antibiotics, including erythromycin, tetracycline, spiramycin, streptomycin, kanamycin, and others, but it is not sensitive to penicillin antibiotics.
Improving personal hygiene habits, enhancing immunity, and effectively controlling infection sources have positive effects on the prevention and control of mycoplasma infections.
