Bifidobacterial cell wall proteins (BIFOP) in Bifidobacterium globosum

Nearly 150 strains of Bifidobacterium globosum were isolated from faeces of calf, chicken, lamb, rabbit and rat, from sewage, from rumen content and from human infant faeces between 1962 and 1973 and scored by SDS-PAGE for the presence of cell-wall-related proteins, i.e. BIFOP (bifid outer proteins); their apparent molecular masses ranged from 94.5 to 34 kDa and were designated A to L. Purified preparations from six of these ten proteins were employed to produce polyclonal rabbit antisera for use in immunoblots to investigate the interrelationships of the major antigens, A, B and C (94.5-85.5 kDa) and their distribution in strains of various origin. Two antigens differently migrating (or polymorphic forms) reacted with anti-BIFOP F serum (called F- and F+); the identity of BIFOP E with respect to these antigens was studied with anti-E serum. Only one antigen in all strain preparations reacted to anti-BIFOP H serum, which was raised against an antigen purified from a 13.5-MDa plasmid-bearing strain from rumen.