ADHESION OF PASTEURELLA-MULTOCIDA TO HELA-CELLS AND TO MACROPHAGES OFDIFFERENT ANIMAL SPECIES

All 14 P. multocida strains of serotype A adhered strongly to HeLa-cel ls and to alveolar macrophages from rabbits, rats, mice, cattle and ho rses. Pasteurellae of serotypes B, D and E adhered weakly or not at al l. The adhesions were markedly reduced by pretreatment of the pasteure llae with hyaluronidase or preincubation of the HeLa-cells with hyalur onic acid. This indicated a possible role of hyaluronic acid (containe d in the capsules of serotype A) in adhesion and subsequent colonizati on of the bacteria.