A COMPARISON OF SOME BIOLOGIC CHARACTERISTICS OF ISOLATES OF THE LEGIONNAIRES-DISEASE BACTERIUM

  • 1 January 1981
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 11  (1) , 53-62
Abstract
The ability of 3 isolates of serogroup 1 and 1 isolate of serogroup 4 of Legionnaires'' disease bacterium (LDB) to infect and cause fever and death in guinea pigs and their ability to produce plaques in cultured primary chick embryo cells were studied. The serogroup 4 isolate originally was recovered from cord clot and placental tissue from a healthy mother following delivery of a normal child. The effects on LDB of prolonged cultivation on supplemented Mueller-Hinton (MH) agar medium and of subsequent cultivation in yolk sacs of chick embryos were examined. Prolonged cultivation of LDB on MH medium resulted in great loss of ability to produce plaques and to cause fever and death in guinea pigs. Subsequent passage in embryonated eggs of MH-adapted LDB tended to restore ability to produce plaques and to cause infection and illness in guinea pigs. Fatty acid composition profiles of the 4 strains were similar.