Occurrence of protein a in staphylococcal strains: quantitative aspects and correlation to antigenic and bacteriophage types.
Protein A of Staphylococcus aureus can be detected on cell walls of intact bacteria by use of radioactively labeled myeloma globulin. Of 156 strains of S. aureus, 141 (90%) contained protein A. None of 47 S. epidermidis strains was positive for protein A. The production of protein A was influenced by incubation temperature but not by differences in incubation time or inoculum size. A medium containing a high concentration of NaCl suppressed the production of protein A by 90%. Formalin treatment of protein A-containing strains caused a decrease in the amount detected, but no further decrease was detected after storage at 4 C. No correlation was found between absence or presence of protein A and phage type or phage group. Sixteen S. aureus strains were studied extensively. There was no correlation between protein A and any of the 26 antigenic characteristics which have been previously described in these strains.
Department of Medicine, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87106.
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G
Kronvall
J H
JH
Dossett
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PG
Quie
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Williams