Parallelism between serologic and bacteriophagic response in B. typhosus and certain avian paratyphoids.

Abstract

Although not commonly recognized, there exist two curious and clearly marked discrepancies in the specific action of typhoid immune serum and typhoid antigen. In 1912 Pfeiler and Rehse 1 isolated from an epidemic of the disease, fowl typhoid, an organism which they regarded as a new species and to which they gave the name, Bacillus typhi gallinarum alkalifaciens. They demonstrated the agglutinability of this organism to a high titer in typhoid (human) immune serum; also a slightly reduced agglutinability of B. typhosus in B. T. G. A. immune serum. I have shown elsewhere 2 that the organism discovered by Pfeiler and Rehse was not a new species, but the old B. gallinarum of Klein, which has masqueraded under various names. In 1915 Theobald Smith and Tenbroeck 3 confirmed the findings of Pfeiler and Rehse, using in this case the Bact. sanguinarium of Moore, which also is identical with B. gallinarum of Klein. In addition, they showed a similar serologic and antigenic relation between B. typhosus and another avian paratyphoid, the Bact. pullorum of Rettger, the causative agent in chick septicemia. I 2 have repeated the experiments of Pfeiler and Rehse, and of Smith and Tenbroeck, and have studied the serologic relationships of these avian types, not only to B. typhosus, but also to a number of other cultures coming from avian or mammalian sources. A resumé of the reactions usually observed, so far as they concern the subject of this paper, are presented in the following table.

In view of these peculiar and easily observed antigenic relationships between B. typhosus and the avian paratyphoids it was a matter of interest to ascertain to what degree, if at all, similar relationships might be present in the lytic principle reactions, active and passive, between the same cultures.