THE USE OF MONOCLONAL-ANTIBODIES FOR THE DETECTION OF FECAL BACTERIA IN WATER

Monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) against heat-killed Escherichia coli and Klebsiella oxytoca originating from wastewater effluent were raised in BALB/C mice. The fusion was highly successful and three hybridomas cl oned were selected to study the affinity and specificity pattern of th e MAbs. The MAbs were found to react equally well with heat-killed and live bacteria when tested against their original immunogens. The MAbs showed lower specificity towards environmentally isolated faecal bact eria than a pure bacterial strain grown in the laboratory. A commercia lly obtained MAb showed the same specificity pattern.