An Immunological Study of Pneumococcus Mucosus

Abstract

Although the older literature, reviewed by yon Lingelsheim ( I ) , contains a rmmber of descriptions of encapsulated streptococci, the importance of organisms of this type as frequent producers .of disease has only been fully recognized since the publications of Schottmiiller (2), who found a well characterized organism, which he called Streptococcus mucosus, in various pyogenic processes and in lobar pneumonia. Many observers have since encountered this organism, occurring as it does in the most diverse pyogenic lesions, and its morphologic and biologic characteristics are well known.Among seventy-four cultures isolated from patients with lobar pneumonia in the Hospital of The Rockefeller Institute in the course of the past two years, nine, or 12 per cent., have been classed provisionally as belonging to the group of encapsulated streptococci of Schottmiiller. These organisms, through their power of producing a tenacious mucoid exudate in the peritoneal cavity of white mice, were readily separated from the larger group of encapsulated diplococci. At the same time, however, their cultural characteristics made it seem probable that they represented a variety of the pneumococcus rather than that they belonged to the streptococcus group.With the hope of determining more exactly the relations of Streptococcus mucosus of Schottmiiller to Diplococcus pneumoni¢, on the one hand, and to the streptococci, on the other, six of our nine organisms were selected for a comparative study of this problem. These six organisms were chosen at random from the nine in our possession. For convenience I shall refer to this group of organisms as Pneumococcus rather than Streptococcus mucosus. They were reobtained for this study from the dried spleens 1 of white mice which had died following a peritoneal injection of the sputum from * Received for publication, September 15, I913. 1 It not infrequently happens that mice infected intraperitoneally with pneumococci show, in addition to a pneumococcus septicemia, an infection with the 88 on

Dominant Role of Nucleotide Substitution in the Diversification of Serotype 3 Pneumococci over Decades and during a Single Infection

“…Serotype 3 was one of the earliest pneumococcal capsule types to be identified [1]. For some time, there was dispute over whether these bacteria should be considered a separate species, named Streptococcus or Pneumococcus mucosus [2], and whilst such a separation cannot be justified on the basis of genetic divergence it does have distinctive morphological and epidemiological traits. Bacterial colonies of this serotype have a characteristic mucoid phenotype when grown on agar, as the cellobiuronic acid polymeric chains of the capsule are not covalently attached to the cell wall [3], [4].…”

Studies on Immunity to Pneumococcus Mucosus (Type Iii)

“…Although Type III pneumococci are recognized as being highly pathogenic for white mice, reports on their virulence for rabbits have differed. Hanes (2) states that Type III organisms are highly virulent for rabbits without giving dosage or number of strains tested. Singer and Adler (3) found 0.05 to 0.1 cc.…”

Agglutination Phenomena in Lobar Pneumonia

“…Observations were made on only two patients infected with Pneumococcus mucosus. Hanes (23) has shown that members of this group are specifically agglutinable when treated according to the method of Porges (24), but that they do not agglutinate when subjected to the usual agglutination method. Since the latter method was employed in the present investigation, no agglutinins were demonstrable in the cases recorded.…”