SEROLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF PATHOGENIC FUNGI BY MEANS OF FLUORESCENT ANTIBODIES. I. ANTIGENIC RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN YEAST AND MYCELIAL FORMS OF HISTOPLASMA CAPSULATUM AND BLASTOMYCES DERMATITIDIS.

Kaufman, Leo (Communicable Disease Center, Atlanta, Ga.) and William Kaplan. Serological characterization of pathogenic fungi by means of fluorescent antibodies. I. Antigenic relationships between yeast and mycelial forms of Histoplasma capsulatum and Blastomyces dermatitidis. J. Bacteriol. 85:986-991. 1963.-Four antiglobulins prepared against the yeast and mycelial forms of Histoplasma capsulatum and Blastomyces dermatitidis were labeled with fluorescein isothiocyanate. Cross-staining and adsorption techniques enabled the discernment of five antigenic factors in the fungi studied. The yeast-phase cells of H. capsulatum and B. dermatitidis contained the respective distinct antigens B and D, and a common factor E. In addition, the yeast-phase cells of these two species shared antigen C with the mycelial elements of H. capsulatum. The mycelial cells of H. capsulatum and B. dermatitidis shared antigen A with the yeast-phase cells of these two organisms and contained no distinct antigens.