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Abstract
A study was made to reveal serological relationships among Brucella abortus, Francisella tularensis, Francisella novicida, and Yersinia philomiragia in bacterial agglutination and double agar-gel diffusion tests. All antisera used for the experiments were prepared in rabbits. In agglutination tests, cross-reaction occurred only between F. tularensis and B. abortus. Acetone-precipitated material showed common antigens for three speciesF. tularensis, F. novicida, and Y. philomiragia in agar-gel diffusion tests whereas polysaccharide preparations were shown to be species-specific for each of the four organisms. B. abortus acetone material reacted only with F. tularensis antiserum in agar-gel diffusion. F. tularensis antiserum, after absorption by intact B. abortus organisms, failed to react with B. abortus both in agar-gel diffusion and agglutination tests. The results show that B. abortus has surface antigens in common only with F. tularensis and that F. tularensis, F. novicida, and Y. philomiragia are antigenically related.
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