The molecular biology of Pasteurella multocida

Pasteurella multocida is an important veterinary and opportunistic human pa thogen. The species is diverse and complex with respect to antigenic variat ion, host predeliction and pathogenesis. Certain serological types are the aetiologic agents of severe pasteurellosis, such as fowl cholera in domesti c and wild birds, bovine haemorrhagic septicaemia and porcine atrophic rhin itis. The recent application of molecular methods such as the polymerase ch ain reaction, restriction endonuclease analysis, ribotyping, pulsed-held ge l electrophoresis, gene cloning, characterisation and recombinant protein e xpression, mutagenesis, plasmid and bacteriophage analysis and genomic mapp ing, have greatly increased our understanding of P. multocida and has provi ded researchers with a number of molecular tools to study pathogenesis and epidemiology at a molecular level. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All right s reserved.