308
M. A. GERENCSER
our laboratory for identifying Actinomyces and very similar sera have been
used by others (Holmberg and Forsum, 1973; Holmberg, 1976). Recent
studies by S. Bragg (pers. comm.) and Fillery et al. (1978) suggest that
an ideal antiserum for identification should contain antibodies to more
than one strain of each serotype. These studies also suggest that absorption with more than one isolate may sometimes be necessary to make antisera species specific, particularly for A . naeslundii and A . viscosus.
T A B L E IX
Pools of absorbed antiserum used for speciating Actinomyces and Arachnia
Species
Antiserum pool Serotype
Absorbed with
-
A. bovis
A . odontolyticus
A . israelii
A. naeslundii
Actinomyces sp.
serotype 963
A. viscosus
A r . propionica
WVU 116t
WVU 292
WVU 867
WVU 482
WVU 46
WVU 307
wvu 45
WVU 820
WVU 1523
WVU 963
wvu 745
WVU 371
WVU 471
WVU 346
1
2
1
2
1
2
1
3
2
1
2
1
2
Not absorbed
Not absorbed
Not absorbed
A. viscosus, 745
A. naeslundii, WVU 45; A.
viscosus, WVU 371 ; Actinomyces
sp., WVU 963 ; P. avidum
Not absorbed
A. israelii, WVU 46; A .
viscosus, WVU 371
A. viscosus, WVU 371
A. ciscosus, WVU 371
A. israelii, WVU 46; A.
viscosus, WVU 371 ; A.
naeslundii, WVU 1523
A. naeslundii, WVU 45
A. naeslundii, WVU 45 ; WVU
Not absorbed§
Not absorbed
1523 and WVU 820
t West Virginia University Culture Collection numbers.
Q May be absorbed with P . acnes.
4. Serotype specijic conjugates
T o prepare conjugates for serotyping within a species, additional or
different absorptions are needed. Serotype specific conjugates are shown
in Table X . Since Actinomyces sp. strain WVU 963 is not now assigned to a
species, the conjugates used for this serotype are the same for speciation
and serotyping. This is not true in other cases. The sera are meant to be