Immunoelectron microscopic analysis of polysaccharide and protein surface antigens in wild strains of group B streptococci.

The ultrastructural location of the group polysaccharide, the type-specific polysaccharides and the protein antigens Ibc, R and X of freshly isolated strains of group B streptococci was studied by the direct immunoferritin technique. The results were compared with the findings in prototype strains representing the serological types of Streptococcus agalactiae. In some strains the group antigen was demonstrated over the entire cell surface, but in strains with a large type polysaccharide capsule labelling was confined to the equatorial zone of the cells. If the type polysaccharide was released by extraction, however, the group antigen of these strains was uncovered over the whole surface of the cell. The type polysaccharide capsule was not demonstrated by the conventional electron microscopic technique, but it was visualized after reacting with the homologous type-specific antibody. The extent and density of the polysaccharide capsule were found to differ in strains with the same type antigen. The type polysaccharide did not block demonstration of the simultaneous presence of protein antigens, implying that the two are arranged mosaic-wise inside the capsule.