Characteristics of monoclonal antibodies against Piscirickettsia salmonis

A panel of 28 monoclonal antibodies against Piscirickettsia salmonis was pr oduced using a purified fraction of the bacterium. To determine their speci ficity to the pathogen, the antibodies were assayed by ELISA and indirect i mmunofluorescence microscopy. Six monoclonal antibodies were selected based on their strong reaction against P. salmonis and absence of cross-reactivi ty with other common fish pathogens. Western blot analysis showed that the antibodies reacted to several antigens of P, salmonis. Immunofluorescence a ssays revealed that these antibodies reacted with the same specificity to d ifferent isolates of P. salmonis obtained from the south of Chile. This pan el of monoclonal antibodies represents an important tool to develop simple, rapid, sensitive and highly specific methods for the detection of the path ogen and diagnosis of the disease.