Reaction of convalescent bovine antisera with strain-specific antigens of parapoxviruses.

Abstract

Two strains of papular stomatitis (PS) virus, 1 of milker's nodules (MN) virus and 1 of contagious ecthyma (CE) virus possessed 2 distinct external structures when examined by electron microscopy. The innermost, designated coat was closely apposed to the tubular surface, whereas the outer envelope loosely surrounded the virion. When convalescent sera from cattle infected with PS virus were used for immunoelectron microscopy, antibody reacted with coats and envelopes of the PS virus strains, but only with coats of MN and CE viruses. Convalescent sera from cattle infected with PS or MN virus contained complement-dependent antibodies cytolytic to cells infected with the homologous virus. In an indirect immunofluorescence test, the sera reacted with homologous strains to higher titers than with heterologous strains.