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Mycoplasma genitalium is a parasitic bacterium which lives in the primate genital and respiratory tracts. It is of special interest for biologists because it is considered to be the organism with the smallest genome, aside from viruses and the recently discovered Nanoarchaeum. The genome of Mycoplasma genitalium consists of 74 EcoRI fragments and a total genome size of 580 kbp (kilo base pairs). An initial study of the M. genitalium genome with random sequencing was performed by Peterson in 1993. It was then sequenced by Fraser (Science 270:397-403 (1995)).
The Mycoplasma genitalium was originally isolated from urethral specimens of patients with non-gonoccocal urethritis. It can be found with ciliated epithelial cells of primate genital and respiratory tracts.
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