Laboratory Maintenance of <i>Moraxella catarrhalis</i>

AbstractMoraxella catarrhalis is a Gram‐negative bacterium that has recently emerged as the third leading cause of bacterial ear infections in children. This organism is also responsible for a variety of upper respiratory tract illnesses in adults, including ∼10% of all cases of respiratory exacerbations in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). There is interest in studying M. catarrhalis for vaccine development, and this unit provides guidelines for the laboratory maintenance of the organism. The three Basic Protocols presented in this unit describe how to culture and prepare M. catarrhalis cells for use in experiments pertaining to various biological aspects of this important respiratory pathogen. Curr. Protoc. Microbiol. 11:6B.1.1‐6B.1.11. © 2008 by John Wiley &amp; Sons, Inc.