Immunomagnetic separation for enhanced flagellar antigen phase inversion in salmonella

Immunomagnetic separation (IMS) was used to reduce delays in serotyping caused by slow flagellar phase inversion of diphasic salmonellas. Some 375 strains of 11 salmonella serotypes were examined using IMS. The mean time for successful flagellar phase inversion was reduced from 4.3 (range 1-18) d to 1.0 (range 1-3) d using the IMS method, and in a further experiment phase inversion was achieved within 8 h in 112 of a further 117 strains representing four salmonella serotypes.