Immune response to parental and rough mutant strains of Salmonella minnesota

Specificity of immune response to smooth and rough mutant strains of Salmonella minnesota was investigated. Immunization of mice with Rd and Re rough mutants resulted in formation of bactericidal plaque-forming cells directed against the lipopolysaccharide structure of both the mutants and the parental smooth strain. These antibody plaques, however, were not bactericidal for smooth strains of other gram-negative species, i.e., Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Shigella dysenteriae, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Plaques produced against the smooth strain of S. minnesota or other species were not bactericidal for rough strains. It was concluded that immunization with rough mutants produces bactericidal antibodies directed against the closely related parental strain but not against smooth strains of unrelated bacterial species. The relevance of these observations to the nonspecific protection by rough mutants is discussed.