Surface antigens present on vegetative Rhizobium meliloti cells may be diminished or absent when cells are in the bacteroid form

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Abstract
The results of fluorescent antibody staining of three Rhizobium meliloti strains using three "strain-cross-reactive" and three "strain-specific" monoclonal antibodies indicated that strain-specific antigens present on surfaces of laboratory-cultured vegetative cells were diminished or absent on surfaces of bacteroid cells extracted from alfalfa nodules formed by the respective strains. In contrast, the monoclonal antibody cross-reactive antigens appeared to be generally conserved during the transition from vegetative cells to bacteroids. These results offer a basis for observed reductions or complete loss of capability of some "strain-specific" monoclonal antibodies developed against vegetative Rhizobium cells to detect the strains in nodule squash material by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Key words: Rhizobium, monoclonal antibody, bacteroid, surface antigen, fluorescent antibody.

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