SOMATIC ANTIGEN VARIATION IN VIBRIO CHOLERAE

Abstract

The O antigenic variation between Ogawa and Inaba variants of Vibrio cholerae was studied. It was demonstrated that Inaba form colonies were isolated from Ogawa cultures, but none of Ogawa form colonies from Inaba strains of V. cholerae.
In cross agglutinin-absorption tests using Ogawa and Inaba antisera, the Inaba specific antigen was not found in any of Inaba strains, whereas the Ogawa specific antigen was demonstrated in all strains of Ogawa and Hikojima variants. The results were interpreted to indicate that V. cholerae strains may produce three somatic antigens designated a, b, and c, and that Inaba strains are a loss mutant of the antigen fraction b which can be used as the specific factor for recognizing the Ogawa form.
It was discussed that the differentiation of Ogawa, Inaba and Hikojima forms is not significant in epidemics.