Discrimination among luteoviruses and their strains by monoclonal antibodies and identification of common epitopes

Twenty-seven monoclonal antibodies to four luteoviruses were tested for their ability to detect 17 strains of seven luteoviruses in triple-antibody-sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Monoclonal antibodies (produced in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States) were to barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV)-PAV (PAV) (3), BYDV-MAV (MAV) (3), BYDV-RPV (RPV) (5), beet western yellows virus (BWYV) (6), potato leafroll virus (PLRV) (6), and soybean dwarf virus (SDV) (4). Virus-specific monoclonal antibodies were identified for each virus to which antibodies had been produced. Many heterologous reactions, some as strong as the homologous reactions, were detected. The minimum number of epitopes identified on each virus varied from one to five. Common epitopes were identified for MAV-PAV, PAV-PLRV, PAV-PLRV-BWYV (beet mild yellowing strain), RPV-bean leafroll virus (BLRV), RPV-PLRV, RPV-BLRV-BWYV, BWYV-PLRV, BWYV-SDV, PLRV-groundnut rosette assistor virus, and PLRV-SDV. The serological relationships between PAV and PLRV and between RPV and BLVR have not been reported previously. None of the antibodies tested detected BYDV-RMV, carrot red leaf virus, or strawberry mild yellow edge virus, a possible luteovirus