Characterisation and application of a murine monoclonal antibody specific for the serogroup C2 Salmonella.

An IgG3 murine monoclonal antibody (designated MO8) specific for the serogroup C2 Salmonella lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was generated by fusing mouse myeloma cells NS1 with spleen cells of BALB/c mice immunised with heat-killed S. manhattan. MO8 reacted with purified LPS prepared from serogroup C2 Salmonella but did not react with that prepared from other O serogroups, and its reactivity was also specifically absorbed by serogroup C2 Salmonella only. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the serogroup C2 LPS and subsequent immunoblotting with MO8 yielded multiple reactive bands giving a characteristic ladder pattern. The specificity of MO8 was further demonstrated in the slide agglutination test with 223 bacteria, of which only 25 belonging to serogroup C2 Salmonella reacted with the MO8 ascitic fluid. The specificity of MO8 makes it useful not only for the serological identification of Salmonella but also for the epitope analysis of the serogroup C2 LPS.