Isolation and characterization of Fc receptors from Haemophilus somnus

Receptors that bind the Fc region of bovine immunoglobulin (Ig) have been isolated from the culture supernatant of Haemophilus somnus by chromatography on a Sepharose 4B column. One receptor with a relative molecular weight of 41,000 weakly binds both bovine IgG subclasses, IgA and IgM, while three high molecular weight receptors (350,000, 270,000, and 120,000) strongly bind bovine IgG2, IgA, and IgM. All four Fc receptors are antigenically related and the 41,000 receptor appears to be a subunit of the high molecular weight receptors. In addition to bovine Ig, the purified 270,000 Fc receptor strongly binds horse IgG, rabbit IgG, pig IgG, cat IgG, dog IgG, and sheep IgG. The receptor also reacts weakly with mouse, rat, chicken, human, and guinea pig IgG and does not bind goat IgG. Fc receptors from 19 H. somnus isolates were compared. Variations in the molecular weight of the 41,000 protein were demonstrated among preputial isolates from asymptomatic carriers, but all other isolates appeared to have identically migrating proteins.