Immunochemical study of triton X-100-soluble surface components of slime-forming, encapsulated Streptococcus cremoris from the fermented milk product viili.

Crossed immunoelectrophoresis was used to study Triton X-100-soluble cell components of Streptococcus cremoris T5 from viili. The antiserum was raised against whole cells, and the antigens extracted gave a complex precipitate pattern with 16 prominent and reproducible precipitates. The results of immunoadsorption experiments with whole cells suggest that six antigens are expressed on the cell surface, and the exposure of cell surface antigens is greater on cells from the early stationary growth phase than on those from the late exponential phase.