Serodiagnosis of Pepper Veinal Mottle Virus in West Africa using Specific Monoclonal Antibodies in DAS‐ELISA

Abstract

Abstract In order to develop a reliable diagnostic test for pepper veinal mottle virus (PVMV), a panel of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), raised to a Nigerian isolate (PVMW‐Ni), was evaluated by double‐antibody sandwich enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (DAS‐ELISA) on infected pepper samples from seven West African countries. PVMV from different geographical locations was serologically very homogeneous and no significant epitope differences were detected even with a very sensitive double‐mAb sandwich ELISA. This ELISA format was optimized with mAb 6C12 and its application in a diagnostic test resulted in the identification of PVMV in Burkina Faso, Togo and Sénégal where it had not been previously reported.