Serological reaction of beet western yellows and potato leafroll viruses in ELISA

Abstract

The detection of potato leafroll virus (PLRV) and beet western yellows virus (BWYV) and their serological relatedness were investigated by the double sandwich ELISA (DS). In both pure preparations and crude plant extracts, an unequivocal detection of each of these viruses was obtained by DS, provided the homologous antisera were used. No detection was achieved when the heterologous antisera were used, although purified virus could be detected when using the heterologous antisera for coating, providing the homologous antisera were used as conjugates. Therefore, for routine screening of BWYV or PLRV infection in plants, the DS method with homologous antisera can be used. However, it does not seem that BWYV infection in potato could be detected by the routine DS aimed for PLRV screening. In immunosorbent electron microscopy, PLRV and BWYV could be easily detected by coating grids with either homologous or heterologous antiserum. This and the possibility of trapping each virus in ELISA plates with the heterologous antiserum indicate serological cross-reactivity between PLRV and BWYV.