Immunological detection of wood decay fungi— An overview of techniques developed from 1986 to the present,

During the past decade, diagnostic methods for detecting incipient wood decay in vitro and in situ have been developed using antibodies to target fungal antigens. Antibodies are potentially ideal probes for detecting fungal biodeterioration because they are specific and can quantitate fungal antigens within a complex structure such as wood. Both polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies to various fungal components have been utilized separately and in concert for immuno-blotting, enzyme immunoassays, particle agglutination assays, and chromatographic ‘dipstick’ assays. This paper provides an overview of the challenges encountered and progress made in the field of forest products immunodiagnostics since 1986.