CHARACTERIZATION OF MONOCLONAL-ANTIBODIES FOR THE RAPID DETECTION OF FOODBORNE CAMPYLOBACTERS

The specificity of 97 monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) to the Campylobacte r jejuni Lior serogroup 6 reference Strain was assessed using an indir ect enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Four MAbs, M316, M337, M357 and M637, reacted with whole cells of the C. jejuni, C. coli and C. lori reference strains of the 20 most common Lior serogroups and 25 recent C. jejuni and C. coli isolates, and did not react with most of the 42 other Campylobacter and non-Campylobacter spp. tested. Immunob lot analysis revealed that MAbs M337 and M357 reacted with a protein c omponent with molecular mass of approximately 62 kiloDaltons (kDa) whi le M316 and M637 reacted with protein components of approximately 92 a nd 31 kDa, respectively. The detection limit of M357 in an indirect EL ISA was 10(5) colony forming units. These four highly specific MAbs ma y be useful reagents of an immunoassay for the rapid detection of ther mophilic campylobacters in foods and clinical samples. Published by El sevier Science B.V.