Abstract
Summary
1) The Coons fluorescent antibody technic is here extended to differentiation and classification of yeasts. The globulin portion of antiserum produced in rabbits against Candida albicans was labelled with fluorescein isocyanate and applied as a differential stain to dried smears from various yeastlike cultures. 2) All 28 strains of C. albicans tested and all 8 strains of C. tropicalis exhibited positive staining reactions with the anti-C. albicans conjugates. Twenty-one strains belonging to 6 other species of Candida, and 46 strains of yeastlike organisms representing 15 other genera were unstained or only weakly stained, and could readily be distinguished from the preceding 2 species. The staining specificity of high-titered conjugates was greatly increased through absorption with cells of Candida parakrusei. 3) Appropriate controls on the serological specificity of the fluorescent staining, including inhibition and absorption tests, are described. 4) Preliminary results with Blastomyces dermatitidis and Histoplasma capsulatum conjugates are reported.
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