Production and Characterization of Monoclonal Antibodies to Potato Virus A

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Abstract Purified potato virus A (PVA) was used for immunization to produce monoclonal antibodies (MAb). The type of ELISA with purified PVA or non–purified PVA, played an essential role in selecting MAb with different specificity.Two MAb's (MAb–1 and MAb–2) were selected, using indirect ELISA (I–ELISA) with purified PVA. Competition experiments suggested that MAb–1 and MAb–2 reacted with the same epitope on purified PVA (epitope 1). ELISA, IEM and SDS–PAGE–immunoblotting experiments showed that epitope–1 was only present on purified PVA but not on non–purified PVA, suggesting that this epitope was introduced during the purification. Assays at different steps during purification indicated that epitope–1 was only exposed after plant components and reducing agents were removed from the PVA extract.Three MAb's (MAb–3, MAb–4 and MAb–5) were selected by indirect double antibody sandwich ELISA (IDAS–ELISA) with non–purified PVA. These MAb's reacted in I–ELISA or IDASELISA with purified PVA as well as with non–purified PVA and might be useful for routine diagnosis. MAb–3, 4 and 5 cross–reacted with some other potyviruses in I–ELISA and in IDAS–ELISA. MAb–1 cross–reacted with 5 out of 7 other potyviruses in I–ELISA, but not in IDAS–ELISA.