Demonstration of lipopolysaccharide on sheathed flagella of Vibrio cholerae O:1 by protein A-gold immunoelectron microscopy.

Monoclonal antibodies with group and type specificity for lipopolysaccharide antigens were used in combination with protein A-colloidal gold labeling and transmission electron microscopy to demonstrate the presence of lipopolysaccharide antigens on both the sheathed flagellum and the cell surface of Inaba and Ogawa strains of Vibrio cholerae O:1. Labeling was associated with the sheath of the flagellum rather than the core, and flagellar cores were not labeled. Flagellum and cell shared a common set of lipopolysaccharide antigens characteristic of the strain serotype.