D1 protein - an effective substitute for immunoglobulins in ELISA for the detection of photosynthesis inhibiting herbicides

A sensitive and inexpensive method of photosynthesis inhibiting herbicide d etection, based on modification of the well-known enzyme-linked immunosorbe nt assay (ELISA) is described. The herbicide binding protein of chloroplast s (D1 protein) is used in ELISA as a substitute for specific immunoglobulin s. Among the advantages of this innovation are simplicity of D1 protein pre paration, its high stability, and group specificity for the photosynthesis inhibiting herbicides. Combination of the method proposed with the herbicid e preconcentration on solid-phase cartridges allows to achieve the detectio n limit required by EC directives for drinking water quality. Several sorbe nts for solid-phase extraction (SPE) can be used for the selective analysis of different types of the photosynthesis inhibiting herbicides. (C) 1999 E lsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.