Combination of immunofluorescence and immunoperoxidase techniques for serotyping mixtures of Mycoplasma species

We describe a method for the simultaneous identification of up to three Mycoplasma species by the use of contrast-labeled fluorescent antibodies against two species and peroxidase-labeled antibody against a third species. The procedure enabled the rapid identification of colonies of three artificially mixed avian Mycoplasma species on agar blocks and also mixtures of species in cultures from naturally infected chickens. Furthermore, it was possible to quantitate the components of a mixture of Mycoplasma gallisepticum, M. synoviae, and M. gallinarum. This new procedure offers an improvement over existing methods in terms of both speed and analytical capability.