Preparation of typing antisera specific for O antigens of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Results of serotyping 966 clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa showed that 72% agglutinated specifically in one or another of the 16 typing antisera, but 28% agglutinated in two or more and often in as many as 10 antisera; this polyagglutinability correlated with a high incidence of cross-reactivity among the antisera. Absorption of each typing antiserum with either cell suspensions of five O-type strains or with a suspension of a particular polyagglutinable strain (SMC 247) abolished cross-reactivity in the typing antisera without significantly reducing titers against the homologous strains. All but four of the polyagglutinable strains agglutinated specifically in one or another absorbed antisera. The cross-reactions of unabsorbed antisera were interpreted to have been caused by antibodies directed not against specific O antigens but against thermostable specificities that remain undefined.