Detection of Fusarium Species by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay Using Monoclonal Antibody

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed for the rapid detection of Fusarium species, known as harmful fungi in food. One of the hybridoma cell lines (lB8) which produced a monoclonal antibody (Mab) specific to Fusarium extracellular polysaccharide (EPS) was screened and the Mab was produced and purified. A detection limit of the sandwich ELISA against F. moniliforme EPS was $0.001\;\mu\textrm{g}/ml$ in the standard curve. Among the 59 strains tested, most Fusarium species showed hight reactivity with Mab lB8, even when the culture broths were diluted 100,000 times. On the other hand, the other genera, except A. versicolor and Trichoderma viride, had no reactivity. When 1 to $100\;\mu\textrm{g}$ of F. moniliforme EPS was spiked into rice, potato, and mandarine orange, the average recoveries were 151%, 84%, and 94%, respectively, determined by sandwich ELISA. The correlation coefficients between the EPS levels determined by sandwich ELISA and the dry mycelial weight of the liquid culture of F. moniliforme, as well as between the EPS and colony forming unit in solid culture of potato, were 0.97 and 0.91, respectively.