= Pasteurella multocida
{c}
<Pasteurella multocida> is a <species> of <Gram-negative bacteria> associated with animal hosts and diseases, including fowl cholera. Different <bacterial strains> can differ in host association and molecular properties; one sequenced isolate does not exhaust the diversity of the <species>.<Complete genomic sequence of Pasteurella multocida, Pm70 by Barbara J. May and others>[Abstract and Introduction: organism and avian Pm70 isolate]{ref}
In 2001, investigators reported the genome of the avian isolate Pm70, predicting 2,014 coding sequences. Sequence comparisons identified candidate functions associated with virulence and iron acquisition. This supplied testable molecular leads, rather than direct proof that every predicted gene caused disease.<Complete genomic sequence of Pasteurella multocida, Pm70 by Barbara J. May and others>[Abstract and Table1: coding sequences and candidate functions]{ref}
An existing biochemical example makes the distinction between prediction and measurement concrete. Work on its <hyaluronan synthase> characterized use of two activated sugar substrates to build <hyaluronic acid>, whose chain alternates <glucuronic acid> and <N-acetylglucosamine>. An enzyme assay tests the actual chemical activity of a preparation; a sequence match proposes a possible activity that still needs such tests.<Enzymological characterization of the Pasteurella multocida hyaluronic acid synthase by P. L. DeAngelis>[Abstract: substrates and enzymological characterization]{ref}
The species name, <bacterial strain>, genome annotation and measured enzyme function therefore answer different biological questions. Keeping them distinct makes comparisons among isolates more informative than assigning every property of one isolate to all members.
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