Construction and virulence of a Pasteurella multocida fhaB2 mutant in turkeys

• Published in: Microbial pathogenesis 2005-07, Vol.39 (1), p.9-17
• Main Authors: Tatum, Fred M., Yersin, Andrew G., Briggs, Robert E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: animal pathogenic bacteria; Animals; Bacterial Proteins - genetics; Bacteriology; Biological and medical sciences; Filamentous hemagglutinin; fowl cholera; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gram-negative bacteria; Hemagglutinins - genetics; Microbiology; Miscellaneous; molecular sequence data; mutants; Mutation; nucleotide sequences; Pasteurella Infections - physiopathology; Pasteurella Infections - veterinary; Pasteurella Infections - virology; Pasteurella multocida; Pasteurella multocida - genetics; Pasteurella multocida - pathogenicity; pathogenicity; Pathogenicity in turkeys; Poultry Diseases - physiopathology; Poultry Diseases - virology; turkeys; Turkeys - virology; Virulence
• ISSN: 0882-4010; 1096-1208
• DOI: 10.1016/j.micpath.2005.05.003

Pasteurella multocida is the causative agent of fowl cholera. The organism can occur as a commensally in the naso-pharyngeal region of apparently healthy animals and it can be a primary or secondary pathogen in the disease process of birds. The complete genome of an avian strain of P. multocida has been sequenced and was shown to possess two filamentous hemagglutinin genes designated fhaB1 and fhaB2. Filamentous hemagglutinin transposon mutants of a bovine strain of P. multocida are attenuated in mice. Here, we report the construction of an fhaB2 P. multocida mutant in an avian strain P-1059 (A:3). The fhaB2 mutant and the parent were assessed for virulence in turkeys by intranasal and intravenous challenge. Inactivation of fhaB2 resulted in a high degree of attenuation when turkeys were challenged intranasally and to a lesser degree when intravenously administered. Resistance of the fhaB2 mutant and parent strain to killing by serum complement was similar.