ROLE OF BORDETELLA-BRONCHISEPTICA SIALIC ACID-BINDING HEMAGGLUTININ AS A PUTATIVE COLONIZATION FACTOR

The role of Bordetella bronchiseptica sialic acid-binding hemagglutini n (SBHA) in bacterial colonization was studied by testing the ability of a phase-I strain carrying SBHA and its spontaneous mutants deficien t in SBHA to colonize mouse tracheae. The mutants exhibited a remarkab le reduction in colonizing ability, approximately 1,000-fold, when com pared with that of the parent strain, suggesting that the possession o f SBHA and the effective colonization by B. bronchiseptica organisms a re closely related.