Immunoelectrophoretic analysis of Mycoplasma mycoides var. mycoides

Acrylamide gel electrophoresis was used to show the similarities and differences in the membrane proteins of two vaccine and two virulent strains of Mycoplasma mycoides var. mycoides. Immunoelectrophoretic (IEP) analysis was also used to partially characterize the associated antigens. Antibody spectra to the antigens of M. mycoides differ in rabbit, pig, and cattle sera. Rabbits produce better precipitating antibody against the anodic migrating protein mycoplasma antigens than cattle and pigs as seen in IEP. However, rabbit anti-M. mycoides serum did not show precipitating antibody against the heat-stable carbohydrate antigen. As judged by IEP, the major carbohydrate antigen extracted from the media, or boiled whole organism, is similar to that present in the sera-infected cattle and knee joints of calves. This carbohydrate antigen has a cathodic migration in IEP at pH 8.6. Periodate oxidation, classically used to destroy carbohydrate, also destroys most of the protein antigens. Heating the antigens to 56 C for 10 min destroys many of the noncarbohydrate antigens and 100 C eliminates all but the carbohydrate antigen. Extraction of M. mycoides with chloroform-methanol, phenol, ethanol, or ethanol-acetone reduced or eliminated most of the protein antigens. Some of the isolated antigenic fractions of M. mycoides were tested to determine their activity in the diagnostic complement fixation test for contagious bovine pleuropneumonia and their inhibitory effect in this test by using bovine anti-M. mycoides antisera having precipitating antibody and circulating antigen. The complement fixation antigen is not the galactan, cannot be extracted by chloroform-methanol, but is stable to boiling at 100 C and may be extracted by phenol and partially precipitated by ethanol-acetone.