The Removal of Agglutinin from Sensitized Motile Bacteria

The salt-free water washings of a sensitized motile bacterium (B. aertrycke) were found to cause a floccular agglutination in the presence of both whole and deflagellated antigen. Evidence was presented that the water washings when salt-free contained flagella and flagellar agglutinin and that clumping occurred upon the addition of saline. The floccular reaction in the presence of deflagellated bacteria was regarded as the agglutination of flagella present in the washings. In the presence of whole bacteria, however, actual bacterial agglutination resulted.