Subtribe-specific monoclonal antibodies to Lolium perenne

Background and objectives The ability to measure personal exposure to airbo rne grass pollen is important in the understanding of allergic diseases. Vi sual identification is time consuming and it is difficult to distinguish be tween many grass pollens morphologically. Although grass pollens share comm on allergenic determinants, we attempted to produce monoclonal antibodies t hat would distinguish between species, tribes and subfamilies of grasses wh ich would allow immunodetection of pollens. Methods Monoclonal antibodies raised against Lolium perenne were screened f or specificity against an extended panel of grass pollen extracts using sta ndard ELISA techniques and a novel particle blotting assay using whole poll en grains. Results Antibodies showing specificity ranging from subfamily to part-tribe specificity were raised. The most specific monoclonal antibodies (numbers 4, 13 and 17) had reactivity to Lolium perenne and Festuca elatior but disp layed Little cross-reactivity to Phalaris arundinaceae and the rest of the Poeae tribe when tested by ELISA and no detectable crossreaction when teste d with particle blotting. Conclusion Monoclonal antibodies that are functionally specific to only two grasses can be produced and used to discriminate between related grass spe cies.