- Volume 34, Issue 2, 1984

The flagellation and motility of seven cellulomonads (Cellulomonas biazotea ATCC 486T, [T = type strain], Cellulomonas fimi ATCC 484T, Cellulomonas flavigena ATCC 482T, Cellulomonas gelida ATCC 488T, “Cellulomonas subalbus” ATCC 489, Cellulomonas cellasea ATCC 487T, and Cellulomonas uda ATCC 491T) were examined by light microscopy and electron microscopy. Cells of all seven strains possessed polar multitrichous flagella, and a few cells possessed polar monotrichous flagella.

In crossed immunoelectrophoresis with the corresponding pooled rabbit antisera, Candida tropicalis and Candida albicans antigen preparations produced 65 and 63 immunoprecipitates, respectively. The cross-reactions between these antigens and antigens from 15 other yeast strains representing nine species were studied by crossed-line immunoelectrophoresis, using C. tropicalis and C. albicans antigen-antibody systems as references. We found no qualitative differences between strains of the same species or among the strains of C. albicans, Candida stellatoidea, and Candida claussenii. In both the C. albicans and C. tropicalis reference systems the degrees of cross-reaction between C. albicans or C. tropicalis and the nine other species revealed the following three groups: C. albicans, C. tropicalis, C. stellatoidea, and C. claussenii, which shared 85 to 100% of their antigens with C. albicans and C. tropicalis; Candida parapsilosis, Candida guilliermondii, and Candida sake, which shared 50 to 70% of their antigens with C. albicans and C. tropicalis; and Candida utilis, Candida pseudotropicalis, Candida krusei, and Candida zeylanoides, which shared about 30% of their antigens with C. albicans and C. tropicalis. Some antigens seemed to be species specific, whereas others seemed to be specific for a group of species within the genus Candida and should be useful for rapid identification of medically important yeasts.