RE‐INVESTIGATIONS OF SELECTED BOVINE AND OVINE STRAINS PREVIOUSLY CLASSIFIED AS PASTEURELLA HAEMOLYTICA AND DESCRIPTION OF SOME NEW TAXA WITHIN THE PASTEURELLA HAEMOLYTICA‐COMPLEX

Abstract

The taxonomic relationship of 116 isolates of Pasteurella haemolytica was re-investigated by conventional phenotypic characterization. Seventy-nine characters were examined. Ninety strains were classified with previously described biovars of P. haemolytica. The remaining strains made up at least six new biogroups within the P. haemolytica-complex. “Key-characters” separating these groups included ornithine, L(+)arabinose, D(-)sorbitol, cellobiose, β-glucosidase, glycosides and α-fucosidase. The taxonomic significance of these characters is uncertain. Determinations of genome size, mol% G + C in DNA and DNA:DNA hybridizations are in progress to obtain further information on the taxonomic significance of the present findings.