Myxosoma cerebralis: Fluorescent antibody techniques for antigen recognition

Rabbits were immunized with antigens extracted from mature spores or prespore stages of Myxosoma cerebralis, and the resulting antisera and their globulins were used in direct and indirect fluorescent antibody techniques. Both kinds of antisera reacted with homologous spores and with stages of the organism that precede spores. When tested for specificity against spores of 12 other myxosporidans the direct fluorescent antibody technique showed cross-reactivity with only one other and that was a species of Myxosoma. The indirect fluorescent antibody technique showed some reactions across generic lines. The antisera have application in studies of the parasite's life cycle and in diagnostics.