A comparative study of spirochaetes from the porcine alimentary tract

Strains of Treponema hyodysenteriae capable of inducing swine dysentery in specific pathogen-free pigs were compared with other spirochaetes from the porcine alimentary tract by biochemical and serological tests and by electrophoresis of their proteins. Carbohydrate fermentation and esculin hydrolys...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	The Journal of hygiene 1981-04, Vol.86 (2), p.173-182
Main Authors:	Lemcke, Ruth M., Burrows, M. R.
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	Animals Antibodies Antigens Antiserum Bacterial Proteins - analysis Dysentery Dysentery - etiology Dysentery - veterinary Fatty acids Fermentation Indoles Intestines - microbiology Serpulina hyodysenteriae Spirochaetaceae - classification Swine Swine - microbiology Swine Diseases - microbiology Treponema - immunology Treponema - isolation & purification Treponema - physiology Veterinary medicine
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	Strains of Treponema hyodysenteriae capable of inducing swine dysentery in specific pathogen-free pigs were compared with other spirochaetes from the porcine alimentary tract by biochemical and serological tests and by electrophoresis of their proteins. Carbohydrate fermentation and esculin hydrolysis were similar in all the spirochaetes. Indole was produced by T. hyodysenteriae and by some of the other spirochaetes. Analysis of the fatty acids produced from glucose showed a difference between T. hyodysenteriae and other spirochaetes only in the amount of n-butyric acid produced. The indirect fluorescent antibody test showed extensive cross-reactions between all the spirochaetes unless antisera were first absorbed. A microtitre agglutination test and a growth-inhibition test were both more specific; strains of T. hyodysenteriae could be distinguished from the other spirochaetes using unabsorbed sera. Both tests revealed some antigenic heterogeneity among strains of T. hyodysenteriae. The cell proteins of a single strain of T. hyodysenteriae gave an electrophoretic pattern distinct from those of the other spirochaetes. Two of the six spirochaetes not associated with swine dysentery, PWS/B and PWS/C, were indistinguishable serologically and electrophoretically. The other four strains were serologically distinct from one another and from PWS/B and PWS/C. Only two of these spirochaetes were examined electrophoretically, but each gave a different pattern from PWS/B and PWS/C. The diversity observed among spirochaetes not associated with swine dysentery indicates that their suggested inclusion in a single species, T. innocens, may prove to be unjustified.
ISSN:	0022-1724 2396-8184