Polyclonal Antibodies for Detection of Witches’ Broom Disease of Lime

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The witches’ broom disease of lime trees is a destructing disease caused by the bacterium Candidatus Phytoplasma aurantofolia (1). The disease is prevalent in Oman,United Arab Emirates and Iran. To restrict the spread ofthe infected trees, detection of the causative bacteriumis crucial. Besides PCR-based methods, antibodies can beapplied for detection of pathogen-infected cells.Recently Shahryari et al. demonstrated that polyclonalantibodies generated against a cell surface protein of thebacterium could be used for effient detection of phytoplasma-infected plant cells (2). In their very conclusivepublication the authors describe generation and bindingof polyclonal antibodies against the immunodominantmembrane protein (IMP) of Candidatus Phytoplasma aurantifolia. Immunization of rabbits with recombinantantigen resulted in polyclonal antibodies with very hightiter, which enabled the development of a highly sensitive, but simple ELISA assay for phytoplasma detectionin infected plants. For studying plant cell-phytoplasmainteraction, specifi antibodies against cell surface proteins of Candidatus Phytoplasma aurantifolia and thehost cell would be useful.