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THE K ANTIGENS OF ESCHERICHIA COLI
Author(s) -
Ørskov Ida,
Ørskov Frits
Publication year - 1970
Publication title -
acta pathologica microbiologica scandinavica section b microbiology and immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.909
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1600-0463
pISSN - 0365-5563
DOI - 10.1111/j.1699-0463.1970.tb04346.x
Subject(s) - thermolabile , escherichia coli , antigen , agglutination (biology) , hemagglutination , elution , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , serotype , chemistry , chromatography , biochemistry , genetics , enzyme , gene
Re‐examination and re‐evaluation of three representative Escherichia coli K antigens of the L variety have been carried out (K12, K51 and K52). It is concluded that the K antigen (L) as hitherto described is not uniform, since more K antigen determinants exist on the surface. Some of these are truly thermolabile, probably proteins, while others are thermostable and are eluted into the suspension medium during heating. This elution is rarely complete. The complex character of the K antigens cannot be detected in the traditional bacterial agglutination technique, but can be demonstrated in double diffusion in gel and immuno‐electrophoresis and by passive haemagglutination. The implications for K antigen typing are discussed.