Molecular Diagnosis of Bovine Genital Mycoplasmopsis and Ureaplasma Infections by PCR

Abstract

Genital Mycoplasmas (Mycoplasma spp. and Ureaplasma diversum), commensals of the genital tract, cause economic loss in cattle enterprises by mainly reproductive failure at the farm level. The productivity loss is due to genetic and environmental factors, stress, wrong antibiotic treatment, and immune system failure. This study aimed to determine the presence of bovine genital mycoplasma and ureaplasmas in healthy and suspected infertile cattle by PCR for the first time. Conventional methods are also used to examine test results. A comparison of results was conducted in both tested methods. For this aim, 356 bovine genital samples of healthy and suspected infertile cows and bulls of various herds were collected from Ankara and the provinces of Türkiye. Positivity in the genital sample of 221 healthy and 135 suspected infertile cattle was 61.2% by cultural methods and 67.7% by PCR, respectively. In comparison to culture, although PCR gave accurate results in a shorter time, findings show that proper results may be obtained when both methods are used together.