Antigenic Diversity of a 19-Kilodalton Peptidoglycan-Associated Lipoprotein amongLegionellaSpecies Determined by Reactivity Patterns to Monoclonal Antibodies

Legionella is an important cause of both community-acquired and nosocomial pneumonias. In this chapter, the authors produced 17 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against the recombinant PAL (rPAL) cloned from Legionella pneumophila serogroup (sg) 1 and investigated antigenic diversity of the peptidoglycan-associated lipoprotein (PAL) proteins from soluble fractions of 16 Legionella species including 22 serogroups by mAb reactivity patterns in ELISA. Soluble antigens from Legionella strains (L. pneumophila sg 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6; L. annisa; L. dumoffii; L. gormanii; L. jordanis; L. micdadei; L. oakridgensis; L. sainthelensi; L. bozemanii sg 1 and 2; L. longbeachae sg 1 and 2; L. Hackeliae sg 1) were prepared by the method of Berdal et al. The authors concluded that antigenic diversity of a Legionella species–common PAL protein is present among Legionella species and that developing diagnostic agents using a Legionella antigen, even if it is conserved, might be better for separately detecting L. pneumophila species and non-pneumophila Legionella species.