Poster: Diseases of Plants: Disease Detection & Diagnosis
536-P
Development and characterization of polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies to Rose rosette virus.
R. JORDAN (1), M. Guaragna (1), J. Hammond (1) (1) US National Arboretum, USDA-ARS, U.S.A.
Garden roses, which form the cornerstone of the multi-billion dollar landscape industry, annually generate wholesale US domestic production valued at ~ $400 million. Over the past few decades Rose rosette disease, caused by Rose rosette virus (RRV; genus Emaravirus), has become a major threat to the rose industry in the U.S. The only strategy currently available for disease management is early identification and eradication of the infected plants, thereby limiting its potential spread. Key to this effort is the development of efficient diagnostic tools to enable sensitive, rapid, user-friendly and accurate detection of the virus; currently limited to nucleic acid-based methods, such as PCR. With the aim of developing a serological diagnostic tool, rabbit polyclonal and several mouse monoclonal antibodies have been developed to the nucleocapsid protein (NP) of RRV. These antibodies were evaluated against NP peptides, cloned NP expressed in bacteria and plants, and RRV-infected plants. These results and those using the antibodies in various serological assay formats, including double- and triple-antibody sandwich ELISA and membrane-based assays, for lab and field detection of Rose rosette virus in infected sources, will be presented.