SUMMARY: The deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) base compositions of 12 recently isolated or new species of mycoplasmas fell within the range known for the Mycoplasma group. By DNA-DNA hybridization a new sterol-nonrequiring strain, s-743, was unrelated to Mycoplasma laidlawii or M. granularum, the latter two strains showing moderate cross-reactivity; swine strain B3 appeared to be related to M. mycoides var. capri. From these results and information in the literature, the mycoplasmas have been divided into six provisional subgroups on the basis of physiological characters, DNA base composition and nucleic acid hybridization. Some speculations are made on the significance of heterogeneity among mycoplasmas.
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