Culturing of Mycoplasma hominis in the presence of arginine and thymidine and subsequent comparative proteomic analysis of cells showed that, in addition to the already known arginine dihydrolase pathway of energy metabolism, M. hominis can utilize deoxyribose phosphates formed as a result of catabolism of pyrimidine nucleosides. In this case, a sharp deceleration of cell growth was observed. This allows M. hominis to occupy new niches in the host organism and survive under competitive conditions when the main sources of energy are unavailable.
Keywords: Mycoplasma hominis; nucleoside metabolism; thymidine.
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