Immunochemical studies on a Brucella ovis specific protein antigen.

A Brucella ovis surface protein antigen (P-II), obtained by gel filtration with Sepharose 4B of a hot saline extract was characterized. The analysis of P-II over gradient sodium dodecylsulfate electrophoresis yielded an 18.5 and a 20 kDa band. In a radioimmunoprecipitation assay using P-II labeled with 125I, the antigen reacted specifically only with sera from rams experimentally infected with a naturally occurring rough strain of B. ovis and did not react with sera from rams experimentally infected with other smooth Brucella strains (B. abortus and B. melitensis).