Preliminary comparative analysis of the genomes of selected field reisolates of the Mycoplasma synoviae vaccine strain MS-H reveals both stable and unstable mutations after passage in vivo.

Background: Genomic comparison of Mycoplasma synoviae vaccine strain MS-H and the MS-H parental strain 86,079/7NS established a preliminary profile of genes related to attenuation of MS-H. In this study we aimed to identify the stability of mutations found in MS-H after passage in experimental or field chickens, and to evaluate if any reverse mutation may be associated with changes in characteristics of MS-H in vitro or in vivo.

Results: Whole genome sequence analysis of 5 selected MS-H field reisolates revealed that out of 32 mutations reported previously in MS-H, 28 remained stable, while four found to be reversible to the wild-type. Each isolate possessed mutations in one to three of the genes obg, oppF and gap and/or a non-coding region. Examination of the 4 reversible mutations by protein modeling predicted that only two of them (in obg and oppF genes) could potentially restore the function of the respective protein to that of the wild-type.

Conclusions: These results suggest that the majority of the MS-H mutations are stable after passage in vaccinated chickens. Characterisation of stable mutations found in MS-H could be utilised to develop rapid diagnostic techniques for differentiation of vaccine from field strains or ts- MS-H reisolates.