Molecular genetic approaches to the study of Vibrio cholerae.

Vibrio cholerae O1 is the aetiological agent responsible for cholera, an acute diarrhoeal disease of man, which has occurred in pandemic proportions and still persists. No satisfactory vaccine against cholera is currently in use. This has prompted considerable research on the molecular biology of the organism in order to gain an insight into the variety of its virulence determinants and the mechanisms by which they function and are controlled.