1887

Abstract

SUMMARY

A large collection of group-A streptococci was examined for the production of opacity in horse serum and for the presence of M and T antigens. Opacity production is a constant character of certain M types and is consistently absent from the rest. Testing for opacity production is a valuable addition to the serological typing procedure especially if it is carried out first. It has proved useful in (1) reducing the number of tests with M antisera that have to be set up and (2) drawing attention to errors in M typing due to the presence of cross-reacting precipitins in typing sera.

The serological specificity of the opacity factor corresponds to that of the M antigen. Inhibition of opacity production therefore provides a useful alternative method of typing strains that form the opacity factor. M antisera for opacity-producing serotypes are often of poor quality and difficult to prepare. In these circumstances, the opacity inhibition test has proved useful for preliminary identification of new M types of streptococci.

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/content/journal/jmm/10.1099/00222615-6-1-83
1973-02-01
2024-03-28
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