Electrophoretic mobility and immunoblot analysis of the outer membrane proteins of Aeromonas hydrophila, A. sobria and A. caviae.

The outer membrane profiles of three species of the genus Aeromonas were examined by means of SDS-PAGE and immunoblotting to identify species-specific polypeptides and antigens which could presumably be applied to differentiate Aeromonas spp. at the species or subspecies level. Profiles on an 11% discontinuous SDS-PAGE showed common band sharing at the 52 kD position. Species-specific bands for the three strains could also be detected. Immunoblots using heterologous LPS-adsorbed polyclonal antisera revealed demarcated common and uncommon antigens within the three species. Outer membrane preparations were immunoblotted against whole cell polyclonal antisera. The previously documented host pathogenicity of A. sobria correlated well with the immunoblots which showed antigenicity, especially due to the LPS, when compared with the other two species.