Antibody specificities of polyclonal rabbit and rainbow trout antisera against Vibrio ordalii and serotype 0:2 strains of Vibrio anguillarum.

Polyclonal rabbit antisera raised against Vibrio ordalii and serotype 02 strains of Vibrio anguillarum showed extensive cross-reactivity with lipopolysaccharide from these bacterial pathogens of fish when tested in western immunoblot analysis. Results with absorbed polyclonal antisera indicated that lipopolysaccharide molecules from these strains had both common and strain-specific antigenic determinants, which allowed the antisera to be used to differentiate between V. ordalii and serotype 02 strains of V. anguillarum. Unlike rabbits, the immune response in rainbow trout to serotype 02 common antigenic epitopes was dependent on the source of the immunizing lipopolysaccharide antigens. Serum from fish immunized with V. ordalii antigens reacted more extensively with serotype 02 common antigens. In contrast, fish anti-V. anguillarum 02 serum did not interact with O antigens from the V. ordalii strains. Lipopolysaccharide from V. anguillarum serotype 02 and 02a strains showed identical antibody binding properties when interacted with rabbit or fish antiserum to either V. anguillarum 02 or V. ordalii. Lipopolysaccharide from V. anguillarum 02b strains did not interact with the tested rabbit or fish polyclonal sera. The results from this study suggest that fish and rabbits recognise different antigenic determinants in lipopolysaccharide from V. ordalii and serotype 02 V. anguillarum strains; that V. ordalli and serotype 02 strains of V. anguillarum should be regarded as distinct serotype 02 subgroups based on the strain-specific antigenic determinants; and finally that the serological classification of V. anguillarum serotype 02b strains should be reexamined.