DIFFERENTIATION BY IMMUNODIFFUSION AND BY QUANTITATIVE IMMUNOFLUORESCENCE BETWEEN 5-FLUOROURACIL-TREATED AND NORMAL CELLS FROM A TOXINOGENIC STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS STRAIN

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Abstract
Immunodiffusion and quantitative immunofluorescence can both detect antigenic changes produced by 5-fluorouracil (FU) in S. aureus Wood 46 strain. When FU is added to the cultures in their logarithmic phase of growth, a number of bacterial antigens are no longer detectable by immunodiffusion and the intensity of the total immunofluorescence of bacteria is diminished; thus, these antigens are either profoundly modified or no longer synthesized. Uracil and, less effectively, thymine can reverse the FU inhibitory effect on the synthesis of antigens, and the number of precipitin lines remains closer to controls. The immuno-chemical approach provides a new way of obtaining information on the action of this pyrimidine analogue on metabolic processes in pathogenic bacteria. Microscopic quantitative immunofluorescence seems to be adaptable to give indirect information on changes in the metabolism synthesis or antigens of a single bacterial cell.