Induction of rabbit antibody with molecular uniformity after immunization with group C streptococci.

Antibodies with uniform properties may occur in rabbits after immunization with Group C streptococci. These precipitating antibodies possess specificity for the group-specific carbohydrate. Not uncommonly, their concentration is between 20 and 40 mg/ml of antiserum. Evidence for molecular uniformity in the case of one of these antibodies, described in detail here, includes: individual antigenic specificity; monodisperse distribution of the light chains by alkaline urea polyacrylamide disc electrophoresis; and a single amino acid in each of the first three N-terminal positions of the light chains. When the amino acid sequence of rabbit antibody b+ light chains (kappa type) are aligned against their human kappa counterparts, a definite homology is observed between the N-terminus of the human and the rabbit variable region.