Humoral immune response in hens naturally infected with Salmonella Enteritidis against outer membrane proteins and other surface structural antigens

A simple procedure for obtaining surface exposed antigens of Salmonella Enteritidis is described. A heat treatment of whole bacteria in saline solution induced the release of small membrane vesicles containing outer membrane components as well as surface appendage components, such as fimbriae and flagellin. The characterization of the structural components of this extract, called HE, was established by SDS-PAGE and immunoblotting using polyclonal and monoclonal specific antibodies. Five major groups of proteins were identified: flagellin, porins, OmpA, SEF21 and SEF14 fimbriae. The immunogenicity of these proteins was studied by immunoblotting with serum samples from naturally infected hens. Flagellin, porins, OmpA, SEF14 and SEF21 fimbriae were immunogenic in the S. Enteritidis infected hens (frequency of reactants: 47.3, 97.3, 64.7, 50.0 and 60.8%, respectively); porins also reacted with sera from non infected hens (66.7%). The immunogenicity of these antigens in infected birds provide promise that they may serve as components of an effective subcellular vaccine for poultry salmonellosis.