VIEW ARTICLE

Techniques

Evaluation of Indirect Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay for the Detection of Plant Viruses. S. A. Lommel, Graduate research assistant, Department of Plant Pathology, University of California, Berkeley 94720; A. H. McCain(2), and T. J. Morris(3). (2)(3)Extension plant pathologist, and associate professor, respectively, Department of Plant Pathology, University of California, Berkeley 94720. Phytopathology 72:1018-1022. Accepted for publication 12 November 1981. Copyright 1982 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-72-1018.

Indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was compared to double-antibody sandwich ELISA for the detection of two plant viruses in carnations. For purified virus, indirect ELISA proved to be more sensitive than sandwich ELISA and for detecting virus in crude extracts. The main advantage was its simplicity for routine virus detection. Interference and enhancement phenomena were observed when indirect ELISA was used for virus detection in crude plant extracts. The relative merits of the sandwich and indirect tests for the indexing of plant viruses are discussed.