Microbiology JoVE (Open Access) Citable · DOI

Capsular Serotyping of Streptococcus pneumoniae by Latex Agglutination

Name: Capsular Serotyping of Streptococcus pneumoniae by Latex Agglutination
Uploaded: 2026-06-17
Duration: 9 min 11 s
Description: Latex agglutination reagents are widely used in microbial diagnosis, identification and serotyping. Streptococcus pneumoniae (the pneumococcus) is a major ...

DOI: 10.3791/51747-v

What you'll learn

✓ Produce latex agglutination reagents and perform quality control testing
✓ Execute latex agglutination assays on pneumococcal cultures
✓ Interpret agglutination patterns to identify Streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes

Protocol

Latex agglutination testing is a simple, rapid and inexpensive method for serotyping Streptococcus pneumoniae, and has also been widely applied in diagnostic microbiology. This manuscript describes the in-house production of latex agglutination reagents, quality control procedures and the application of this technique to pneumococcal serotyping.

Difficulty

intermediate

Total time

~2-3 hours per batch (reagent prep + testing)

Biosafety

BSL-2

Steps

Prepare in-house latex agglutination reagents

Coat latex particles with pneumococcal capsular polysaccharides and conduct quality control procedures to verify reagent specificity and sensitivity before use.

▶ 01:20

Perform latex agglutination test on cultures

Mix pneumococcal culture samples with prepared latex reagents on a test slide or card and observe for agglutination reactions according to standardized protocol.

▶ 04:21

Score agglutination and identify serotype

Evaluate agglutination patterns under appropriate lighting, compare results to control reactions, and determine the pneumococcal serotype based on reactivity profile.

▶ 06:55

💬 Comments coming soon