Genomic variability of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae within pig lung lobes.

The results did not show a significant association between the number of detected genotypes and the severity of the lesions at the lung lobe level, but revealed the unexpected detection of M. hyopneumoniae genotypes in lesion-free lobes. These results imply that a representative sampling of all lobes may lead to an accurate identification of the VNTR-type distribution. Further studies including factors that can affect pathogenetic evolution of this bacterium could shed light on the complexity of the relationship between genotypes and the lung lesions magnitude.