Polyclonal Antibodies for Detection of Witches’ Broom Disease of Lime

Abstract

The witches’ broom disease of lime trees is a destructing disease caused by the bacterium Candidatus Phytoplasma aurantofolia (1). The disease is prevalent in Oman, United Arab Emirates and Iran. To restrict the spread of the infected trees, detection of the causative bacterium is crucial. Besides PCR-based methods, antibodies can be applied for detection of pathogen-infected cells. Recently Shahryari et al. demonstrated that polyclonal antibodies generated against a cell surface protein of the bacterium could be used for effient detection of phytoplasma-infected plant cells (2). In their very conclusive publication the authors describe generation and binding of polyclonal antibodies against the immunodominant membrane protein (IMP) of Candidatus Phytoplasma aurantifolia. Immunization of rabbits with recombinant antigen resulted in polyclonal antibodies with very high titer, which enabled the development of a highly sensitive, but simple ELISA assay for phytoplasma detection in infected plants. For studying plant cell-phytoplasma interaction, specifi antibodies against cell surface proteins of Candidatus Phytoplasma aurantifolia and the host cell would be useful.