Characterization of antigens from Aspergillus fumigatus. I. Preparation of antigens from organisms grown in completely synthetic medium.

Aspergillus fumigatus was found to grow well in completely synthetic asparagine glycerol medium. Four-day-old mycelia were totally disrupted by vigorous mechanical shaking with 0.45-micrometer glass beads. Such mechanically produced extracts contained at least 52 precipitating antigens. The number of protein and carbohydrate components was maximal in 4-day-old organisms and decreased in older cultures. Conversely, the number of components in culture filtrates increased with longer incubation periods, but was only approximately one-half that produced by the 4-day-old mycelial extracts.