SPECIES-SPECIFIC, SEROGROUP-SPECIFIC, AND SEROVAR-SPECIFIC EPITOPES ARE JUXTAPOSED IN VARIABLE SEQUENCE REGION-4 OF THE MAJOR OUTER-MEMBRANE PROTEINS OF SOME CHLAMYDIA-TRACHOMATIS SEROVARS

Synthetic peptides and marine monoclonal antibodies were used to map c ross-reactive chlamydial epitopes. A species-specific epitope in the c entral region of variable sequence region 4 abuts the amino-terminal e nd of a B-serogroup-specific or F/G-serogroup-specific epitope, which in turn abuts known serovar-specific epitopes. The carboxyl-terminal p ortion of variable sequence region 4 (residues 297 to 314) comprises a region of end-to-end B-cell epitopes in some serovars of the B and F/ G serogroups.