Studies on immunity in anthrax. II. In vitro elaboration of protective antigen by non-proteolytic mutants of Bacillus anthracis.

Non-proteolytic mutants were isolated from the Vollum strain of B. anthracis following ultraviolet treatment. The mutants were virulent for rabbits and mice and their non-proteolytic character was stable in culture and on serial passage in rabbits. The mutants produced protective antigen under suitable conditions of cultivation in vitro, and allowed longer incubation of the cultures without destruction of the protective antigen than did the parent strain. The meaning of the results is discussed.