Development of competitive and noncompetitive immunoassays for clothianidin with high sensitivity and specificity using phage-displayed peptides

Clothianidin is a widely used pesticide that has been banned from outdoor use by the European Union due to its toxicity. To improve the sensitivity and specificity of existing clothianidin immunoassays, we developed competitive and noncompetitive immunoassays for clothianidin based on phage-displayed peptides. Cyclic 8-, 9-, and 10-residue peptide libraries were constructed using an optimized phagemid pComb-pVIII to prevent the loss of theoretical library diversity. Twenty-eight peptidomimetics and two anti-immunocomplex peptides were isolated through a blended panning process and used to develop competitive and noncompetitive phage enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (P-ELISAs), respectively. After optimization, the half inhibition concentration (IC50) and half saturation concentration (SC50) of competitive and noncompetitive P-ELISAs were 3.83 ± 0.23 and 0.45 ± 0.02 ng/mL, respectively. Competitive P-ELISA showed 2.6–18.2% cross-reactivity with imidaclothiz, nitenpyram and imidacloprid. Importantly, noncompetitive P-ELISA, which has the best specificity and great sensitivity for clothianidin, showed no cross-reactivity with the analogs. The average recoveries of competitive and noncompetitive P-ELISAs were 73.8–104.1% and 76.6–102.2%, respectively, while the relative standard deviations were ≤ 11.0%. In addition, the results of P-ELISAs in the analysis of blind samples were consistent with those of high-performance liquid chromatography. [Display omitted] •The constructed phagemid contains optimal cloning sites and large space fragment.•The established phage display peptide libraries have high diversity.•Multiple strategies were utilized to improve the success rate of biopanning.•Anti-immunocomplex and peptidomimetic of clothianidin were prepared firstly.•The noncompetitive immunoassay has the best specificity and great sensitivity.