Genetic diversity of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae in finishing pigs in Minas Gerais

ABSTRACT: Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae is one of the most challenging respiratory pathogens involved with swine pneumonia worldwide, responsible for a chronic infection with high morbidity, which predisposes secondary bacterial infections in growing and finishing pigs. Advances in diagnostic techniques allowed identification of genetic characteristics associated with high antigenic and proteomic variability among bacterial strains. This study aimed to evaluate the genetic diversity of M. hyopneumoniae strains in lungs with pneumonic lesions obtained from 52 pig farms located in Minas Gerais, one of the largest swine production states in Brazil. Genotyping was performed using multilocus variable number of tandem repeat (VNTR) analysis (MLVA), targeting two loci encoding P97 and P146 adhesins VNTR. The results showed that this agent is widely disseminated in pig farms and there is a high polymorphism of M. hyopneumoniae variants circulating in the state of Minas Gerais. Different M. hyopneumoniae genotypes are randomly distributed in several regions of the state, with no specific geographic population structure pattern. M. hyopneumoniae association with viral agents was sporadic (3.17% with Influenza A and 1.9% with PCV2).