Skip to main content
Infection and Immunity logoLink to Infection and Immunity
. 1974 Jul;10(1):48–53. doi: 10.1128/iai.10.1.48-53.1974

Yeast- and Mycelial-Phase Antigens of Blastomyces dermatitidis: Comparison Using Disc Gel Electrophoresis

Rebecca A Cox a,1, Howard W Larsh a
PMCID: PMC414955  PMID: 4135463

Abstract

The disc gel electrophoretic patterns obtained with skin test-active (mycelial and yeast) antigens of Blastomyces dermatitidis were compared. As would be expected, the blastomycins (mycelial-phase) and the cytoplasmic ultrafiltrates (yeast-phase) were heterogeneous mixtures containing proteins, glycoproteins, lipoproteins, and carbohydrates. The skin test-active cytoplasmic ultrafiltrates and the blastomycins contained glycoproteins that had similar Rf values which allows the possibility that one or more of these components is responsible for the skin-test reactivity of these antigens. The electrophoretic migration of the alkali-soluble, water-soluble cell wall antigen differed from those of the cytoplasmic antigens and the two blastomycins. Electrophoresis, Sephadex chromatography, and ultrafiltration studies showed that the alkali-soluble, water-soluble cell wall antigen is comprised of lipid, polysaccharide, and protein and has a molecular weight range of 30,000 to 50,000. The increased number and mobility of both the protein and carbohydrate bands after denaturation and electrophoresis of this antigen in sodium dodecyl sulfate indicate that there are several cross-linkages between the polysaccharide and/or protein moieties, possibly via lipid or disulfide bridges.

Full text

PDF
48

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Cox R. A., Best G. K. Cell wall composition of two strains of Blastomyces dermatitidis exhibiting differences in virulence for mice. Infect Immun. 1972 Apr;5(4):449–453. doi: 10.1128/iai.5.4.449-453.1972. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Cox R. A., Larsh H. W. Isolation of skin test-active preparations from yeast-phase cells of Blastomyces dermatitidis. Infect Immun. 1974 Jul;10(1):42–47. doi: 10.1128/iai.10.1.42-47.1974. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. DAVIS B. J. DISC ELECTROPHORESIS. II. METHOD AND APPLICATION TO HUMAN SERUM PROTEINS. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1964 Dec 28;121:404–427. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1964.tb14213.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. GHUYSEN J. M., STROMINGER J. L. STRUCTURE OF THE CELL WALL OF STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS, STRAIN COPENHAGEN. I. PREPARATION OF FRAGMENTS BY ENZYMATIC HYDROLYSIS. Biochemistry. 1963 Sep-Oct;2:1110–1119. doi: 10.1021/bi00905a035. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Kanetsuna F., Carbonell L. M. Cell wall composition of the yeastlike and mycelial forms of Blastomyces dermatitidis. J Bacteriol. 1971 Jun;106(3):946–948. doi: 10.1128/jb.106.3.946-948.1971. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. LOWRY O. H., ROSEBROUGH N. J., FARR A. L., RANDALL R. J. Protein measurement with the Folin phenol reagent. J Biol Chem. 1951 Nov;193(1):265–275. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. PARK J. T., JOHNSON M. J. A submicrodetermination of glucose. J Biol Chem. 1949 Nov;181(1):149–151. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Shapiro A. L., Viñuela E., Maizel J. V., Jr Molecular weight estimation of polypeptide chains by electrophoresis in SDS-polyacrylamide gels. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1967 Sep 7;28(5):815–820. doi: 10.1016/0006-291x(67)90391-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Infection and Immunity are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES