Abstract
Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) from 71 strains ofSerratia marcescens that were agglutinated by O14 antiserum were examined by SDS-PAGE. Four major profiles were found, designated LPS1 to LPS4. These groups accounted for 51, 7, 5, and 3 strains respectively. Five strains were unclassified. Immunoblotting showed that O14 antibodies bound only to LPS1 and not to LPS2, 3, or 4. LPS1 also bound antibodies in O1, O4, O12, and O23 antisera. LPS2 reacted specifically with O8 antiserum, LPS3 with O6, and LPS4 with O2, O3, O6, O12, and O21 antisera. These reactions were not found in agglutination tests with boiled, whole-cell antigens. However, tests with autoclaved antigens (45 min at 121°C) corroborated the immunoblotting classifications; LPS1 strains belonged to serotype O14, LPS2 to serotype O8, LPS3 to serotype O6, and LPS4 to serotype O21. We conclude that there is a heat-stable antigen on many clinical strains ofS. marcescens that masks the expression of O-specific LPS antigens and which binds with nonspecific antibody in serum O14. We propose that O-antigens should be prepared from autoclaved cultures and that the H-reference strain O14∶H9 CDC 1783-57 (LPS2) should be reclassified as serotype O8.
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