User talk:Plansona

Higher Order Taxa

Bacteria; Proteobacteria; Gammaproteobacteria; Pseudomonadales; Moraxellaceae; Moraxella

Species

Moraxella bovis, Moraxella ovis, Moraxella bovoculi, Moraxella catarrhalis

Genome and Structure

Contiguous DNA size is 15826 bp (3). Circular DNA. The DNA genome sequence of the bacterial strain Moraxella bovis Epp63 has been or is still being determined (2).

Description and Significance

Moraxella boivs is a highly opportunistic bacterium infecting cattle herds worldwide, causing Infectious Bovine Keratoconjunctivits (IBK), also known as pinkeye or ‘New Forest Eye’. This disease is characterized by inflammation and ulceration of the conjunctiva causing discomfort, excessive tearing (3) and can eventually cause ocular rupturing. This bacterium thrives on the surface of cattle eyes proliferating exponentially in the presence of oxygen and ultraviolet rays from the summer sun, which predisposes the eye to infection (3,6). IBK is transferred from cattle to cattle with flies acting as virulent vectors (4). Increased rates of infection occur during the summer and fall season as there is a correlation with increased sunlight and fly populations.