MONOCLONAL-ANTIBODIES SUITABLE FOR PLUM POX VIRUS DETERMINATION

Monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) to plum pox virus (PPV) were obtained aft er immunization of BALB/c mice with purified PPV-W isolate. Spleen cel ls from a mouse showing a high serum titer were used for fusion with S p2/0-Ag14 myeloma cells. Culture supernatants were screened for specif ic antibody production against PPV-W isolate using indirect ELISA. A t otal of six stable hybridoma lines producing MAbs of IgG class were ob tained. All four PPV isolates tested (W, A, D and M) can be distinguis hed by these MAbs. Two highly efficient antibodies were chosen for pra ctical purposes, and their applicability in PPV diagnostics has been s tudied since 1989 in parallel with polyclonal antibodies and commercia l kits (Boehringer, Bioreba). The experiments have proven comparable s ensitivity with a detection limit ranging between 10 and 50 ng of viru s per ml sample. In routine diagnostics of plums, peaches and apricots our MAbs ranked at least as high as the commercial kits.