An immunoblotting technique for the serodiagnosis of brucellosis by Brucella ovis.

An immunoblotting (IB) technique was developed for the serodiagnosis of brucellosis caused by Brucella ovis. Immunoblotting was performed, using a B. ovis HS (hot saline extract) antigen, on 44 blood serum samples which came from rams belonging to known brucella-free flocks, 114 samples originating from ten experimentally B. ovis infected rams and 100 from rams of naturally B. ovis infected flocks. No bands were noted on any of the 44 serum samples which originated from known negative flocks. Sera from naturally and experimentally infected rams identified antibodies to antigenic components with molecular masses of 67, 63, 58, 55, 38, 35, 32, 30, 28, 25, 23, 21, 20-18 (proteins) and 15-12 (RLPS) kDa.