PRODUCTION OF MONOCLONAL-ANTIBODIES HIGHLY SPECIFIC FOR VIRUS-LIKE PARTICLES FROM MALE-STERILE VICIA-FABA - DEVELOPMENT OF A DOUBLE SANDWICH ELISA ALLOWING QUANTITATIVE-ANALYSIS OF VLPS

The '447' cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) in Vicia faba is associated with the presence of virus-like particles (VLPs) contained in the cyt oplasm of male sterile plants. These VLPs constitute an excellent diag nostic marker for male sterility. Purified VLPs were injected into BAL B/c mice and 1 month later, spleen cells were used for cell fusion. Ou t of the 88 clones obtained, 27 were secreting monoclonal antibodies s pecific for VLPs. These monoclonal antibodies gave no cross-reaction w ith fertile plant tissues. One of these antibodies was used in combina tion with polyclonal antibodies to develop a very specific double-sand wich enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) which allows a quantita tive determination of VLPs in crude leaf extracts. In addition to bein g useful for the selection of stable male sterile lines of Vicia faba, these monoclonal antibodies constitute interesting tools for studying and understanding the mechanism of this unusual male sterility.