Abstract
Immunoelectron microscopy (IEM) and enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) studies with polyclonal antibodies (PAbs) indicated that the isolates 1A, Nsaba, and Kpeve of cacao swollen shoot virus (CSSV; genus Badnavirus) are serologically distinct. Out of these isolates, only 1A was reliably detected from infected cacao trees with the homologous PAbs. To improve serological detection of the isolates Nsaba and Kpeve by the application of monoclonal antibodies (MAbs), virion preparations of CSSV‐1A, ‐Nsaba and ‐Kpeve were used to immunize mice. Although immunization with CSSV‐1A yielded a large number of 1A‐specific MAbs, no Nsaba‐ or Kpeve‐specific MAbs were obtained after immunization with these isolates. Instead, the latter exclusively led to the production of MAbs which reacted only with isolate 1A. Epitope characterization of 1A‐specific MAbs using different ELISA procedures, IEM and Western blot experiments showed that three of the 1A‐specific MAbs detected a continuous epitope [sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS)‐stable] and nine MAbs reacted with conformation‐dependent epitopes (SDS‐labile). Direct adsorption of virus particles to microtitre plates in antigen‐coated plate ELISA affected epitope stability in a similar fashion as SDS treatment of virions. When comparing the sensitivity of CSSV detection by MAbs and PAbs in various ELISA formats, MAbs were slightly more sensitive than PAbs in CSSV detection from plant sap. Using the panel of available 1A‐specific MAbs for triple antibody sandwich‐ELISA analysis of 31 CSSV samples from different cacao growing areas of Ghana revealed the occurrence of four serotypes in the samples containing CSSV‐1A isolates. In addition, the serological reaction patterns of the MAbs correlated well with the geographic origin of the isolates, thus giving further indications about the regional distribution of CSSV 1A‐like isolates in Ghana.
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