Antigenic structure and serological relationships of Mycobacterium, Actinomyces, Streptococcus, and Diplococcus.

Kwapinski, Jerzy B. (South African Institute for Medical Research, Johannesburg), and Marshall L. Snyder. Antigenic structure and serological relationships of Mycobacterium, Actinomyces, Streptococcus, and Diplococcus. J. Bacteriol. 82:632-639. 1961.-Chemical fractions, 72 in all, from four strains of Mycobacterium, four strains of Actinomyces, and four strains of Streptococceae, were tested in homologous and heterologous antisera prepared against intact cells and chemical fractions of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Antigens isolated from the cytoplasm of these bacteria proved to be serologically related to each other. In contrast, most of the cell-wall antigens, except those extracted with either 30% sodium hydroxide or formamide at 100 to 130 C, were species specific. Sera prepared against the individual fractions of Mycobacterium reacted only with the strain of Mycobacterium from which they were isolated.