This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Chen, H. I. Articles by Clarridge, J. E. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Chen, H. I. Articles by Clarridge, J. E., III

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, September 2002, p. 3438-3441, Vol. 40, No. 9
0095-1137/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JCM.40.9.3438-3441.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Taxonomic Subgroups of Pasteurella multocida Correlate with Clinical Presentation

Henry I. Chen,¹ Kristina Hulten,¹ and Jill E. Clarridge III^1,2,3*

Department of Pathology,¹ Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine ,² Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Service, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Houston, Texas³

Received 10 January 2002/ Returned for modification 9 March 2002/ Accepted 11 May 2002

Pasteurella multocida is a small nonmotile gram-negative coccobacillus that is found in the nasopharynx and gastrointestinal tract of many wild and domesticated animals. In humans it most commonly causes cellulitis and localized superficial skin abscesses following an animal bite or scratch. The respiratory tract is the second most common site of infection for Pasteurella. Of the more than 17 species of Pasteurella known, Pasteurella multocida subsp. multocida and Pasteurella multocida subsp. septica are among the most common pathogens in humans. With the use of molecular techniques, distinction between different subspecies of P. multocida can be made more easily and accurately. We used the sequence of the 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) and repetitive extragenic palindromic sequence-PCR (REP-PCR) to characterize 20 strains (14 of P. multocida subsp. multocida and 6 of P. multocida subsp. septica; the 16S rDNA is identical for P. multocida subsp. multocida and Pasteurella multocida subsp. gallicida but differs from that of P. multocida subsp. septica) isolated from various anatomic sites. We found excellent correlation between the 16S rDNA sequence (a marker for a small conserved region of the genome), REP-PCR (a marker for a large portion of the genome), and biochemical tests (trehalose and sorbitol). We also found a correlation between the clinical presentation and the taxonomic group, with P. multocida subsp. septica more often associated with wounds than with respiratory infections (67 versus 17%, respectively) (P < 0.05, Z test) and P. multocida subsp. multocida more often associated with respiratory infections than with wounds (71 versus 14%, respectively) (P < 0.05, Z test).

---

* Corresponding author. Present address: VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, WA 98102. Phone: (206) 277-4514. Fax: (206) 764-2001. E-mail: jill.clarridge{at}med.va.gov.

---

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, September 2002, p. 3438-3441, Vol. 40, No. 9
0095-1137/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JCM.40.9.3438-3441.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Gautier, A.-L., Dubois, D., Escande, F., Avril, J.-L., Trieu-Cuot, P., Gaillot, O. (2005). Rapid and Accurate Identification of Human Isolates of Pasteurella and Related Species by Sequencing the sodA Gene. J. Clin. Microbiol. 43: 2307-2314 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Clarridge, J. E. III (2004). Impact of 16S rRNA Gene Sequence Analysis for Identification of Bacteria on Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 17: 840-862 [Abstract] [Full Text]