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Agglutination of Staphylococcus aureus by Rabbit Sera

Institute of Medical Microbiology, University of Uppsala, Uppsala, Sweden

ABSTRACT

Of 137 Staphylococcus aureus strains, 87 agglutinated in normal rabbit serum. The agglutination was shown to be caused by the Fc-part of immunoglobulin G (IgG). F(ab¹)₂-fragments of IgG and immunoglobulin M (IgM) in corresponding concentrations were unreactive. The agglutinating strains had a high or moderate content of protein A. Strains with a low content of protein A and protein A-negative mutants did not agglutinate. The importance of the reaction between the Fc part of IgG and protein A for serotyping of S. aureus is demonstrated. Two alternative methods for serotyping S. aureus are suggested, using either F(ab¹)₂ fragments of IgG or intact IgM.