IMMUNOLOGICAL RELATIONSHIPS OF ENCAPSULATED AND CAPSULE-FREE STRAINS OF ENCAPSULATUS PNEUMONIÆ (FRIEDLÄNDER'S BACILLUS)

Abstract

1. "S" strains of Friedländer's bacillus produce capsules, soluble specific substance, and are of exalted virulence. "S" strains are type-specific and react with only the type-specific antibodies of the homologous types. 2. Immunization with "S" cells induces the formation of antibodies which agglutinate type specifically, precipitate the corresponding soluble specific substance, and protect white mice against infection caused by organisms of the same type. 3. "R" strains of Friedländer's bacillus produce no capsules, produce no soluble specific substance, and are not pathogenic. "R" strains are serologically undifferentiated from each other and react with only the species antibodies. 4. Immunization with "R" cells induces antibodies which do not agglutinate encapsulated organisms, do not precipitate soluble specific substance, and do not afford protection against infection by Friedländer's bacillus. Anti-R serum contains only the species antibody which reacts with any capsule-free organism regardless of its type origin. 5. Decapsulation of "S" cells by heat and acid chemically converts a type-reacting organism into a species-reacting organism.