Purification of large quantities of coxiella burnetii rickettsia by density gradient zonal centrifugation.

The purification of large quantities of inactivated, phase II Coxiella burnetii by isopycnic zonal centrifugation for use as diagnostic antigen and as a vaccine is described. The fractionation of egg yolk sac-derived C. burnetii vaccine resulted in the separation of two distinct populations of organisms, each devoid of microscopically and serologically recognizable components of egg yolk sac. One population of organisms, characterized by an equilibrium density of 1.240, was rod shaped (1.0 by 0.5 mumole) with a thick, densely strained wall and prominent central body. The second population, with an equilibrium density of 1.280, had a coccobacillary shape (approximately 1 mumole in diameter), granular, sometimes fibrillar cytoplasm, thin cellular walls, and lacked a prominent nucleoid.