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Prereaction of Citrus tristeza virus (CTV) Specific Antibodies and Labeled Secondary Antibodies Increases Speed of Direct Tissue Blot Immunoassay for CTV

An improved direct tissue blot immunoassay (DTBIA) procedure for detection of Citrus tristeza virus (CTV) within 1 h is described. Prints of fresh young stems of citrus plants that were infected or not infected with CTV were made by gently and evenly pressing the fresh-cut surface of the stems onto a nitrocellulose membrane. The tissue blots were air-dried for 5 min, incubated with prereaction solutions of CTV-specific antibodies and labeled secondary antibodies, goat anti-mouse Ig (H+L)-alkaline phosphatase conjugate or goat anti-rabbit IgG alkaline phos-phatase conjugate, for up to 20 min, rinsed with PBST buffer for 5 min, and immersed into an NBT-BCIP substrate solution for 15 to 20 min. Then the blots were rinsed in water for a few seconds to stop the reactions, and the results were observed and recorded under a light microscope. All samples from greenhouse plants that were infected with CTV decline inducing isolate T-36 were positive to CTV-specific polyclonal antibody 1212 (PCA 1212) and monoclonal antibodies 17G11 (MAb 17G11) and MCA13 (MAb MCA13), whereas samples from greenhouse plants infected with non-decline-inducing isolate T-30 were positive to PCA 1212 and MAb 17G11, but not to MAb MCA13. The noninfected greenhouse plants were negative to all of the antibodies. The improved DTBIA was at least as reliable as other immunological procedures and almost as reliable as polymerase chain reaction for detecting CTV in field trees. The improved DTBIA enables the detection of CTV within 1 h by having a prereaction of CTV-specific antibodies and labeled secondary antibodies in solutions before they are applied to the tissue blots. This DTBIA procedure may be useful in detecting other plant viruses and other pathogens such as bacteria and fungi.