Whole-bacterial cell enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for cell-bound Moraxella bovis pili

PRIETO C; RODRIGUEZ, ME; BOSCH A; CHIRDO F; YANTORNO

VETERINARY MICROBIOLOGY

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2003 vol. 91 p. 157 - 168

0378-1135

Infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis (IBK), caused by Moraxella bovis, is a disease of major importance in cattle industry. M. bovis has several virulence factors among which pili proved to be a crucial antigen for protective capacity of vaccines against this disease. The production of vaccines against IBK therefore requires a reliable technique for cellular piliation level assessment on cells to be included as vaccine components. In this study we describe a specific whole bacterial cell enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (bact-ELISA) capable of detecting pili antigen on M. bovis cell surface. A sequential competitive bact-ELISA was developed using highly piliated M. bovis cells as antigen. Samples to be analyzed were allowed to react with anti-pili serum prior to incubation in wells coated with piliated cells of M. bovis. This assay proved useful for the rapid, sensitive and reproducible evaluation of piliation level on M. bovis cells, and represents an important tool for cellular piliation monitoring during M. bovis cells production in stirred bioreactors.