Comparative Studies on Antibody Detection Using Yeast Phase Lysate Antigens Prepared from Virulent and Avirulent Isolates of Blastomyces Dermatitidis (Proceedings PAPERS FROM THE MEETING‪)‬

ABSTRACT Blastomyces dermatitidis is a fungal pathogen which causes the disease blastomycosis. The geographic distribution of blastomycosis has been associated with southeastern and south-central states that border the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and upper midwestern states including areas in Wisconsin and Minnesota, which are highly endemic for the disease. Blastomycosis can occur in humans and other animals that have inhaled the fungal spore from the environment after disrupting the organic matter where the fungus is located. In the present study yeast lysate reagents produced from two different B. dermatitidis Wisconsin isolates were used to detect antibodies in serum specimens from immunized rabbits and infected dogs. Antibody detection using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) indicated that the lysate antigen produced from strain ER-3 (avirulent woodpile isolate) was more efficient at detecting antibodies in the dog serum specimens with absorbance values ranging from 0.363 to 1.790 while strain ERC-2 absorbance values ranged from 0.280 to 0.920 with the same sera. In contrast the lysate produced from ERC-2 (virulent infected dog isolate) exhibited greater reactivity than the ER-3 antigen with the immunized rabbit sere with absorbance values from 0.272 to 2.054 and from 0.230 to 1.435 respectively. Studies are continuing in an effort to gain additional information concerning the reactivity patterns of the two lysate reagents when tested against different serum specimens.