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The spiroplasma deformation test, a new serological method

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Abstract

The deformation test is a simple and highly sensitive technique capable of demonstrating significant antigenic differences among helical, wall-less prokaryotes (spiroplasmas). Specific identified. Quantitative relationships among various antisera are determined by examining, under dark-field microscopy, samples containing serum dilutions and a measured number of organisms which is held constant in each test. Antisera dilutions of 1:2,000 to 1;16,000 deformed spiroplasmas in homologous tests involvingSpiroplasma citri and the corn stunt and suckling mouse cataract spiroplasmas. With the exception of some heterologous cross-reactions in the deformation test betweenS. citri and corn stunt spiroplasmas, antisera and preimmunization sera failed to deform heterologous spiroplasmas at dilutions higher than 1:16.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institutes of Health, Bldg, 7, Rm, 200, 20014, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

    David L. Williamson

  2. Plant Protection Institute, Federal Research, Science and Education Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 20705, Beltsville, Maryland, USA

    Robert F. Whitcomb

  3. Laboratory of Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, 20014, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

    Joseph G. Tully

Authors
  1. David L. Williamson
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  2. Robert F. Whitcomb
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  3. Joseph G. Tully
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Williamson, D.L., Whitcomb, R.F. & Tully, J.G. The spiroplasma deformation test, a new serological method. Current Microbiology 1, 203–207 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02602843

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02602843

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