Bovine Mammary Immune Response to an Experimental Intramammary Infection with a Staphylococcus aureus Strain Containing a Gene For Staphylococcal Enterotoxin C1

摘要

Staphylococcal enterotoxin C (SEC), a superantigen, is the most frequently expressed enterotoxin by boving strains of Staphylococcus aureus causing mastitis. To examine the possible impact of SEC on the immune response of the bovine mammary gland, we monitored changes in lymphocyte subpopulations in mammary glands of four lactating cows after intramammary in - stillation of S. aureus strain Rn4220 transformed with a plasmid containing a gene coding for SEC1. Four other lactating cows received the same strain trans - formed with the plasmid without the SEC1 gene (posi - tive control), and four cows were untreated (negative control).