An investigation into the influences of species and biotype on the type of IgA1 protease produced by isolates of Haemophilus.

A total of 59 isolates of different Haemophilus spp., mostly from clinical specimens, was characterised, biotyped and examined for production of type 1 or type 2 IgA1 protease. IgA1 protease activity was not found in any isolate of a species with no or low virulence for man including H. parainfluenzae, H. haemolyticus, H. aphrophilus, H. paraphrophilus, H. segnis, H. paraphrohaemolyticus and H. haemoglobinophilus. IgA1 protease was produced by all isolates of H. influenzae and H. aegyptius and by some isolates of H. parahaemolyticus. The type of IgA1 protease appeared to be independent of the biotype of the isolate in H. influenzae. For the first time some isolates of H. aegyptius were found that produced type 2 IgA1 protease. IgA1 protease production in H. parahaemolyticus may be associated with the virulence of the isolate.