A SEROLOGIC STUDY TOWARDS THE IDENTIFICATION OF STRAINS BELONGING TO THE SPECIES BACILLUS-CEREUS, BACILLUS-LICHENIFORMIS AND BACILLUS-SUBTILIS BY THE COAGGLUTINATION REACTION

Polyclonal rabbit antisera against 4 B. cereus strains were selected from a total of 9 B. cereus antisera and pooled. This serum agglutinated all available B. cereus strains (n = 63) at a titre greater than or equal to 1 : 64 when tested by a slide co-agglutinaon reaction. One hundred and thirty-six Bacillus strains belonging to 17 other species reacted with higher serum concentrations only (titres mainly less than or equal to 1 : 16). A pooled antiserum comprised of two B. licheniformis antisera and two B. subtilis antisera agglutinated all 43 B. licheniformis strains and all 38 B. subtilis strains at a titre greater than or equal to 1 : 128, but one strain each of the species B. pumilus, B. macerans and B. fastidiosus was also agglutinated at a titre 1 : 128.