Surface serology is an important determinant in Spiroplasma systematics. Reciprocal antigen/antibody reactions between spiroplasmas and individual antisera delineate the 38 described groups and species. However, reciprocal serology is impractical for largescale studies. This report describes a successful, streamlined polyvalent screening approach used to examine isolates from an environmental survey.
spiroplasma; mollicutes; serology; deformation test