Abstract
Somatic antigens of Bradyrhizobium japonicum, Rhizobium sp. (Cicer arietinum) and Rhizobium sp. (Leucaena leucocephala) were prepared as standard, single-species type from cultured cells. Equal numbers of the cells of these rhizobia were then combined to obtain a mixed-rhizobial-species antigen preparation. Rabbits were immunized either with the standard, single-species type or with the mixed-rhizobial-species antigen preparations. The antisera developed from the mixed antigen immunization contained antibodies for all three rhizobial species, detectable at agglutination titres of over 800. The mixed-rhizobial-species antisera were made species specific by cross-absorption. The cross-absorbed and the mixed-rhizobial-species antisera were generally similar in quality for strain identification by agglutination, fluorescent antibodies, immunoblot and ELISA. A 66% reduction in cost was estimated for the production of antisera by immunization with mixed-rhizobial-species antigen.
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H.J. Hoben and P. Somasegaran are with the NifTAL Center and MIRCEN, University of Hawaii, 1000 Holomua Road, Paia, Maui, HI 96779-9744, USA: N. Boonkerd is with the School of Agricultural Technology, Suranaree University of Technology, University Avenue, Nakorn Racharsima, Thailand. Y.D. Gaur is with the Division of Microbiology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi-110012, India.
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Hoben, H.J., Somasegaran, P., Boonkerd, N. et al. Polyclonal antisera production by immunization with mixed cell antigens of different rhizobial species. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 10, 538–542 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00367662
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00367662