CHARACTERIZATION OF CELL-SURFACE COMPONENTS OF AZOSPIRILLUM-BRASILENSE SP7 AS ANTIGENIC DETERMINANTS FAR STRAIN-SPECIFIC MONOCLONAL-ANTIBODIES

Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) with high specificity for Azospirillum br asilense Sp7, and which bind to different antigenic determinants, were characterized using Western blot techniques applied to one- and two-d imensional fingerprints of the outer-membrane components, and by immun ogold labelling combined with transmission electron microscopy. One cl ass of mAbs, which bound to A. brasilense Sp7 and the closely related strain Cd, recognized a 100 kDa protein subunit of the polar flagellum . Two classes of strain-specific mAbs for A. brasilense Sp7 bound, res pectively, to a 85 kDa outer-membrane protein and to polysaccharide.