Abstract
The protective antigen present on the flagella of Clostridium chauvoei was studied by the mouse protection test. A partially purified flagella preparation (PPF) showed protective antigenicity after two intraperitoneal injections of 2μg as protein, while the protective antigenicity of nonflagellated mutants (NFM) was 100-fold less than that of the flagellated parent strain. Although the protective effect of antisera against the whole cells and PPF, in terms of ED50 values, was mostly lost after absorption with the parent strain, that of antisera after absorption with NFMs showed no appreciable loss. These results suggest that the flagella of Cl. chauvaei play some role in inducing protective immunity in mice.
