Petri Dish-ELISA, a Simple and Economic Technique for Detecting Plant Viruses

Abdalla, M. E. and Albrechtsen, S. E. (2001) Petri Dish-ELISA, a Simple and Economic Technique for Detecting Plant Viruses. Acta Phytopathologica et Entomologica Hungarica, 36 (1-2). pp. 1-8. ISSN 0238-1249

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Abstract

A large number of microtiter plates are needed for mass testing of planting material for viruses in seed certification and plant quarantine. In the case of poorly equipped laboratories, problems with availability of microtiter plates have economic implications for the broad acceptance of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for e.g. seed health testing in developing countries. In this experiment the potential of an alternative, cheaper technique was investigated. A conventional indirect ELISA procedure was followed for comparison between the polystyrene solid phases of plastic Petri dishes and microtiter plates for detection of three viruses belonging to the Tobamovirus, Comovirus and Potyvirus genera. A wax pen was used to divide the inner surface of a polystyrene Petri dish into many circles or squares. The hydrophobic boundaries thus provided were effective in separating 50 µl-drops throughout the ELISA procedure. In comparative assays of serial dilutions of the three viruses, the ELISA in Petri dishes resulted in similar or higher A405 values than the ELISA carried out in microtiter plates, suggesting a similar or better protein binding capacity of Petri dishes. The perspectives of this alternative method are briefly discussed.

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