SHORT ARTICLES: NEUTRALISATION OF IMMUNOLOGICALLY DISTINCT STAPHYLOCOCCAL DELTA HAEMOLYSINS BY ANTIBODIES

PURIFIED δ-haemolysin from several canine strains of Staphylococcus aureus give reactions of only partial identity in immunodiffusion test with purified δ-haemolysin from S. aureus strain CN4108 (Newman) and its corresponding rabbit antibodies (Turner, 1978). This raises the question of whether these antibodies to the δ-haemolysin of strain CN4108 would neutralise the haemolytic activity of δ-haemolysin from the canine strains. Because the δ-haemolysin from both sources was neutralised by a non-immunoglobulin component of normal rabbit serum (Jackson and Little, 1958; Gladstone and Yoshida, 1967; Turner, 1978), it was essential to use only the immunoglobulin fraction of immune sera in this investigation.