Molecular Koch's postulates applied to microbial pathogenicity.
Microbial genetics and molecular cloning now permit us to routinely isolate specific genes from a variety of microbial pathogens. Obviously not all genes from pathogenic microorganisms play a role in pathogenicity or virulence. Just as Koch's postulates were formulated to identify the causal relationship between an organism and a specific disease, the notion is presented here that a form of molecular Koch's postulates is needed when examining the potential role of genes and their products in the pathogenesis of infection and disease.
Falkow
S
S
Department of Microbiology, and Immunology, Stanford University, California 94305.
D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D009154:Mutation; D014774:Virulence