Polyclonal antibodies against fusaproliferin

Fusaproliferin (FP), a toxic metabolite of the world-wide maize pathogens F usarium proliferatum and Fusarium subglutinans, was recently found to be a natural contaminant of maize. Its toxic activity on haematopoietic human ce ll lines and its teratogenic effects on chicken embryos has been recently p roved. Therefore a sensitive, rapid, and inexpensive screening test to dete ct FP in agricultural commodities is necessary to protect human health. FP- hemiglutarate conjugated to modified bovine serum albumin was synthesized, characterized, and used as an antigen for raising polyclonal antibodies by immunizing rabbits. Indirect and competitive ELISA and immunoblotting analy ses were performed to determine antibody specificity towards the mycotoxin. The determination of 10 mu g of free FP/mL was achieved using antibodies p urified by means of affinity chromatography on a FP-lysine-Sepharose column . This unsatisfactory detection limit is due to high background values; thu s, this method is not competitive with traditional UV-HPLC methods.