Abstract
Cultures for ureaplasmas were made from various sites of 38 apparentlyhealthy and 5 dead dogs. Ureaplasmas were isolated from 27 (62.8%) of 43 oral cavities, 20 (46.5%) of 43 nasal cavities, 13 (59.1%) of 22 prepuces, 8 (38.1%) of 21 vaginas and 1(20%) of 5 tracheas, but not from eyes, recta or a lung examined. Thirty-six strains clonedfrom these cultures were divided into at least four distinguishable serological groups, A, B, C and D, by the growth inhibition and metabolism inhibition tests. Serogroups A, B, Cand D contained 6, 9, 8 and 13 strains, respectively. Groups A and B were composed ofstrains from various anatomical sites of dogs, whereas groups C and D consist of those mostfrequently isolated from the nasal cavity and urogenital tract, respectively. In addition, two serologically distinct strains were isolated simultaneously from a single specimen ofeach oral and nasal cavity. The canine unreaplasmas had no serological relation withhuman, bovine, simian or avian ureaplasmas.
