Immunological role of Brucella abortus cell walls.

Foster, John W. (University of Georgia, Athens) and Edgar Ribi. Immunological role of Brucella abortus cell walls. J. Bacteriol. 84:258-268. 1962-Cell walls and protoplasm were prepared from organisms disrupted in a refrigerated pressure cell. Cell walls were purified by sedimentation in a linear glycerol gradient. Antigens capable of protecting mice against infection with Brucella abortus and of reacting with antiserum prepared against whole cells were present chiefly in the cell wall; substances lethal to mice and responsible for primary inflammation of rabbit skin were also associated with the cell wall. Limited activity of protoplasm in these biological tests may or may not be due to contamination with cell-wall material. A substance extracted from whole cells with aqueous ether possessed an immunizing potency superior to that of killed whole cells or cell walls.