Pili of
Vibrio parahaemolyticus were found on the cell surface and purified. The strain (Ha7) was isolated from a patient with food poisonning and positive for Kanagawa phenomenon. Morphological findings of the pili were long, thin, flexible filaments like 16 K-dalton pili of
Vibrio cholerae O1. The molecular weight of the pili was estimated at 17, 000 daltons by sodium dodesyl sulfate polyacryl amide gel electrophoresis. Ha7 pili were immunologically not crossreactive with
V. cholerae O1 pili (16K pili). Ha7 whole cells and purified pili were negative in hemagglutination of human and sheep erythrocytes, in contrast to
V. cholerae O1 cells and their pili which were both positive in hemagglutination.
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