Somatic and flagellar immunofluorescence of Salmonella

Caldwell, W. J. (The Child Research Center of Michigan, Detroit, Mich.), C. S. Stulberg, and W. D. Peterson, Jr. Somatic and flagellar immunofluorescence of Salmonella. J. Bacteriol. 92:1177-1187. 1966.-Labeled globulin fractions of flagellar (H) antisera, prepared against 20 frequently occurring Salmonella serotypes belonging to five major somatic (O) groups, were characterized for O and H immunofluorescence and for O and H agglutinin titers against 32 serotypes. The feasibility of immunofluorescent identification of both somatic and flagellar antigens was enhanced by staining formaldehyde-treated organisms in suspension. Relationships between homologous, partial, and unrelated antigen-antibody systems were then analyzed, and a high degree of correlation was shown between the results obtained by the two serological procedures. Flagellar staining was highly specific, and was bright, faint, or inapparent, depending on the relationship between the antigen-antibody systems involved. Somatic staining was also specific, but somewhat more difficult to interpret, because cells in the same preparation might exhibit a mixture of bright, faint, or no fluorescent intensities. Correlation was shown between the percentage of brightly staining cells found in these preparations and the agglutination titers of the comparable antigen-antibody systems. The phenomenon of a "percentage" reaction was unexplained. Absorption studies further confirmed the specificity of reactions. The techniques developed were applied to surveillance of several mouse colonies for the presence of Salmonella. Broth cultures of fecal specimens were treated with formaldehyde and stained in suspension with "polyvalent" labeled antibody reagents. Agreement was found in 97.6% of the instances between results obtained by immunofluorescence and cultural methods. In addition, preliminary evidence indicated the feasibility of presumptive serotyping of Salmonella isolates by immunofluorescence.