Abstract
In order to identify by serological means a suspected strain of Listerella monocytogenes isolated from the blood of a patient with infectious mononucleosis, several strains of the organism† were obtained from different workers for the preparation of antisera. Since preliminary tests indicated that the strains were not all antigenically identical, the investigation was extended to include a possible classification of these organisms based on serological reactions. Antisera were accordingly prepared in rabbits with 6 of 8 strains collected for the study.
The different cultures were subsequently tested for agglutination in the antisera, which varied in titer from 1:1260 to 1:5120. It was found that 8 strains of Listerella monocytogenes were divided by the agglutinative reaction into 2 varieties or types. For convenience, it is proposed to designate the types, I and II. Type I appears to be composed of 2 rabbit strains and 2 human strains, while Type II consists of 3 strains from 3 different animals (i. e., cow, sheep, goat), not including the rabbit, and 1 human strain. This bears out to a measure the results observed by Webb and Barber 5 that 2 rabbit and 2 human strains and 1 gerbille strain tested by them fell into one group, which was as far as they went. It also corroborates and amplifies the observations of Seastone, 2 who showed that while strains from various animal sources, exclusive of the rabbit, were serologically the same, they were different from a single rabbit strain which he studied. More recently, it was shown by Schultz, Terry, Brice, and Gebhardt 6 that 2 serological groups occurred among 11 different strains of Listerella monocytogenes derived from various animals, including man.
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