Reconstitution of the Somatic (O-) Antigenic Scheme for Providencia and Preparation of O-Typing Antisera

Abstract

The somatic (O-) antigens of the type strains of the providencia antigenic scheme were examined for their biochemical reactions and their O-specificities. The scheme of 62 O-antigens was reconstituted from 52 original type strains and 10 strains substituted for originals that either were biochemically atypical of the genus or showed inappropriate serological reactions. Thirty-six type strains showed no significant relations with other type strains, and antisera could be used for typing without absorption. Among 26 type strains, significant reciprocal relations were demonstrated, and each cross-reacting antigen was examined for specificity and for its distribution among the type strains. Antisera to these strains required absorption with cell suspensions of other type strains for production of specificity in O-typing. Each typing antiserum, at low dilution, was shown to agglutinate homologous, but not heterologous, cell suspensions of type strains, and this result demonstrated the required specificity for typing on the basis of the O-antigens.

Speciation, serotyping, antimicrobial sensitivity and plasmid content of Proteeae from the environment of calf-rearing units in South West England

“…rettgeri (Penner, Hinton & Hennessy, 1974), Prov. stuartii (Penner et al 1976) and Prov. alcalifaciens ).…”

Cryptic Plasmids in Hospital Isolates of Providencia Stuarti

“…stuarti were isolated during a colonisation survey in a male geriatric ward; full details of the sources and isolation methods have been reported elsewhere (Hawkey et al, 1982). All isolates in that study were 0-serotyped by an established method (Penner et al, 1976).…”

Cross-protection of mice provided by active and passive immunization against experimental infections with virulent Proteus rettgeri and Providencia bacteria

“…Previous studies on P. rettgeri and P. stuartii have shown considerable differences in virulence among strains (7,23,24), but relationships between virulence and the 0 antigens were not demonstrated. Since schemes for discriminating among strains of these proteeae have been described (20,21), further studies on their virulence and the mechanisms of immunity to these bacteria were clearly indicated. The present communication is concerned with initial experiments designed to examine the production of immunity in mice through active and passive protection tests by using virulent, serologically unrelated strains of P. alcalifaciens, P. stuartii, and P. rettgeri.…”

“…MATERIALS AND METHODS Selection of mouse-virulent bacterial strains. Eighty-four type strains of the P. rettgeri and 63 of the Providencia 0-serotyping schemes (20,21) were screened for virulence by injecting two mice per strain intraperitoneally (i.p.) with 104 cells of each strain suspended in Trypticase soy broth (TSB) with 5% added hog gastric mucin.…”

“…Characteristics of selected strains are shown in Table 1. Biotypes were classified according to reactions and schemes of classification previously reported (19,21). Autoclaved cell suspensions of each strain agglutinated in homologous but not in heterologous typing antisera when tested by slide agglutination.…”