Plasmid profiles of Moraxella bovis isolates

Two-hundred isolates of Moraxella bovis were selected at random and examined for the presence of plasmid DNA by a rapid alkaline-detergent lysis method. All isolates contained from 1 to 6 plasmids, with varying agarose-gel electrophoretic migration patterns. Most (80%) isolates carried 2 to 4 plasmids, which ranged in molecular weight from 2.6 to 80 megadaltons. Seemingly, plasmid profiles can be used as a simple, reliable epizootiologic tool to establish a strain identification scheme for M bovis.