NON-SPECIFIC COMPONENTS IN S. PARATYPHI A 477 



It has been stated that the third and fourth phases induced in 

 S. paratyphi A showed little relationship to the natural antigens 

 of the genus. However, they do display relationships to the 

 induced phases of several other Salmonella types. As mentioned 

 by Edwards and Bruner (1939a) these induced phases follow a 

 recurring pattern, just as do the naturally occurring antigens. 

 Whether they are artifacts produced under the influence of im- 

 mune serum or whether they represent components that have 

 been suppressed in the evolution of known species is not clear at 

 present. The writers are inclined to the latter view. 



SUMMARY 



1. Through cultivation in agglutinating serums three induced 

 phases were isolated from cultures of Salmonella paratyphi A. 

 One of the phases was closely related to the non-specific phases 

 of diphasic types. The other two bore little resemblance to the 

 normal Salmonella antigens. 



2: Non-specific components were isolated from 12 of 16 cultures 

 studied. These non-specific antigens were expressed as 1, 5. . . 

 and were more closely related to the non-specific phase of the 

 Sendai type than to any of the other non-specific phases. 



3. The induced phases were stable under ordinary conditions 

 of culture and could be reverted only by the addition of ap- 

 propriate serums to the medium. 



4. The isolation of non-specific antigens from S. paratyphi A 

 was cited as additional evidence that monophasic Salmonella 

 types are derived from multiphasic types through suppression of 

 phases. 



REFERENCES 



Bruner, D. W., and Edwards, P. R. 1939 A note on the monophasic non- 

 specific Salmonella types. J. Bact., 37, 365-370. 



Bruner, D. W., and Edwards, P. R. 1941 Microorganisms of group E of the 

 genus Salmonella with special reference to a new Salmonella type. 

 Am. J. Hyg., In press. 



Edwards, P. R., and Bruner, D. W. 1939 Reversibility of the alpha and beta 

 phases of Salmonella typhi. Proc. Soc. Exptl. Biol. Med., 41, 223-224. 



Edwards, P. R., and Bruner, D. W. 1939a The demonstration of phase varia- 

 tion in Salmonella abortus-equi. J. Bact., 38, 63-72. 



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