The document provides a general account of Mycoplasma. Some key points: - Mycoplasma are the smallest, unicellular prokaryotes belonging to the class Mollicutes. They have no cell wall and are sensitive to osmotic shock. - They were first discovered by Pasture in 1843 from cattle pleural fluid and were initially called Mycoplasma mycoides. Nocard and Roux first cultured Mycoplasma in 1898. - Mycoplasma can be rod-like, ring-like, globoid or filamentous in shape. They range in size from 100-800 nm and reproduce by budding or binary fission.