Goat serums for fluorescent antibody conjugates to chlamydial antigens.

Serums from goats hyperimmunized with Chlamydia psittaci consistently produce antichlamydial fluorescent antibody conjugate of high titer. The titer of the fluorescent antibody conjugate prepared from a given serum correlated well with the titer obtained by agar gel precipitin, but not with the complement fixation. The agar gel precipitin test can be used to predict whether a given serum is satisfactory for use in production of a conjugate for direct fluorescent antibody tests. Serums with an agar gel precipitin titer of 1/8 or higher generally produce a usable fluorescent antibody conjugate. Labeling gamma globulins with fluorescein isothiocyanate at a ratio of 1/150 resulted in satisfactory fluorescent antibody conjugates. Cultures of Vero cells infected with chlamydiae were found to be suitable for titration of the fluorescent antibody conjugates.