Cloning of the toxin gene from Pasteurella multocida and its role in atrophic rhinitis.

The gene for the osteolytic toxin of Pasteurella multocida has been cloned into a plasmid vector and expressed off its own promoter in Escherichia coli. Particular restriction endonucleases failed to cut the gene and regions flanking it, suggesting an A + T base ratio significantly greater than the remaining genome of P. multocida. Cloned toxin was indistinguishable from the native toxin with respect to molecular mass, antigenicity and toxicity in different tests. A single intraperitoneal injection of toxin purified from the recombinant E. coli reproduced in gnotobiotic pigs the pathological changes characteristic of atrophic rhinitis. The recombinant E. coli produced at least 10 times as much toxin as P. multocida.