REACTION OF RABBITS TO INTRAVENOUS INJEC- 

 TIONS OF MOULD SPORES^ 



A. F. BLAKESLEE and ROSS AIKEN GORTNER 

 (Coiui. Agric. College) {Univ. of Minucsota) 



(WITH PLATE 2) 



The work outlined in this paper was imdertaken in connection 

 with experiments having as their object a determination of the 

 chemical differences which may exist between the two sexual races 

 in the fungous group commonly known as the mucors. In these 

 forms the majority of the species are dioecious, having separate 

 male and female races, which may be propagated independently 

 by means of vegetative spores. 



As is weh known the repeated injection of red blood corpuscles 

 and of certain other cells is capable of producing in the blood of 

 rabbits cytolytic antibodies that will dissolve these cells when they 

 are subsequently mixed with the sermii of the treated animal. It 

 was thought that a similar cytolysin might be developed for mould 

 spores, and that the action might be foiind to be sexually specific. 



Althoiigh agglutinins apparcntly are fonncd, 110 cytolysins for 

 fungus spores coiild be induced by intravenotis injections. Despite 

 the largely negative character of the results obtained, they seem to 

 be sufiiciently controlled to show positively that rabbits are incap- 

 able of producing cytolysins for the spores of the mucor tested. 

 The fact that the cell wall is highly resistant throughout the fungi 

 renders it extremely improbaljle that cytolysins can be developed 

 for spores of any other fungus form. 



Preliminary tests showed that spores of Cunninghamella echinu- 

 lata, when injected intravenously, kill a rabbit within a week's time 

 (four instances). Postmortem examination demonstrated thepres- 



iThe major part of the work embodied in this paper was carried out at the 

 Station for Experimental Evolution of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, 

 Cold Spring Harbor, New York. 



See Proceedings of the Cokmil)ia University Biochemical Association, Dec. 

 4, 1914; BiocHEM. Bull., 1915, iv, p. 212. 



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