Phenotypic and genetic characterization of NAD-dependent Pasteurellaceae from the respiratory tract of pigs and their possible pathogenetic importance

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD)-dependent Pasteurellaceae other than Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae and Haemophilus parasuis are frequently isolated from the respiratory tract of pigs. The taxonomic classification and relevance for pathogenicity of these bacteria deserves further attention.

In the present study, 107 of these NAD-dependent isolates from the porcine respiratory tract, primarily from lungs with pathological changes, were investigated. On the basis of phenotypic criteria, such as haemolysis, urease, catalase, and indole formation as well as other fermentative activities, 50 of the isolates were assigned to Actinobacillus minor, 36 isolates to Actinobacillus porcinus and 21 isolates to Actinobacillus indolicus.

However, many isolates among the three species showed fermentative activities differing from those of the respective type strain of the species. Serotyping on the basis of heat-stable polysaccharide antigens and 16 rDNA sequencing also revealed substantial heterogeneity within each of the three species although they clustered together in three distinct groups in the phylogenetic analysis.

These three groups of NAD-dependent bacteria are different from, or in a borderline position, to the existing species or genera within the family Pasteurellacene. A considerable number of isolates of these three groups were isolated in pure cultures from pneumonic lungs. Consequently, it will be necessary to critically review the opinion, that these NAD-dependent Pasteurellaceae are only "agents colonizing the mucosa".

Further, taxonomic examinations of the strains within these three groups are indispensable to testing isolates for their virulence in gnotobiotic pigs.