Immunodiffusion studies of some Nocardia strains

Forty-three strains of Nocardia, one of Actinomadura and two of Nocardiopsis were studied using the comparative immunodiffusion technique. Three reference precipitation systems were employed: one represented Nocardia asteroides N10, one N. asteroides ATCC 19247, and one N. otitidis-caviarum ATCC 14629. One tight cluster was formed by the N. otitidis-caviarum strains and another tight cluster was formed by some of the N. asteroides strains studied. However, other strains of N. asteroides were distinct from the latter cluster. Furthermore, N. asteroides ATCC 19247, which is the type strain, differed from most ot the N. asteroides strains tested. Strains of the species N. asteroides, N. brasiliensis, N. farcinica and N. otitidis-caviarum were found to be closely related, while N. amarae strains differed slightly from this group. The strains referred to Actinomadura and Nocardiopsis were clearly distinct from the three Nocardia reference strains; nevertheless, three antigens common to these genera were revealed.