The family Pasteurellaceae: modern approaches to taxonomy

Historically, members of the family Pasteurellaceae were classified on the basis of a limited number of phenotypic characteristics. In particular, organisms were assigned to the family on the basis of their requirements for the growth factors hemin and/or nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide and on the basis of their ability to cause disease in vertebrates. More recent genotypic studies have shown that many members of the family Pasteurellaceae have been misclassified. In this paper we review some of the current taxonomic methods which can be used to emend the classification of Haemophilus, Actinobacillus and Pasteurella spp. and suggest some approaches and criteria for restructuring the family Pasteurellaceae.