VIEW ARTICLE

Techniques

A Monoclonal Antibody Specific to Agrobacterium tumefaciens Biovar 3 and its Utilization for Indexing Grapevine Propagation Material. A. L. Bishop, Postdoctoral associate, Department of Plant Pathology, New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, Cornell University, Geneva 14456, Present address: California Department of Food & Agriculture, Analysis & Identification Branch, 1220 N Street, Rm. 340, P.O. Box 942871, Sacramento, CA 94271-0001; T. J. Burr, V. L. Mittak, and B. H. Katz. Associate professor, and research technicians, respectively, Department of Plant Pathology, New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, Cornell University, Geneva 14456. Phytopathology 79:995-998. Accepted for publication 18 May 1989. Copyright 1989 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-79-995.

A monoclonal antibody, designated AbF21-1D3G7C8, reacts in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with biovar 3 strains of Agrobacterium tumefaciens, causal agent of grapevine crown gall, from North America, Europe, and Asia, regardless of tumorigenicity. AbF21-1D3G7C8 does not react with A. tumefaciens biovars 1 or 2, or with other plant pathogens, symbionts, or saprophytes. AbF21-1D3G7C8 is useful for laboratory diagnosis of A. tumefaciens biovar 3, and thus for detection and diagnosis of grapevine crown gall, indexing of propagation wood, and quarantine testing. A. tumefaciens biovar 3 was identified in grapevine cultivars and rootstocks from New York and Washington states by means of the monoclonal antibody.