Optimisation of PTAELISA detection and quantification of Botrytis cinerea infections in grapes

Abstract

Botrytis cinerea can be detected in juice pre and postharvest using the monoclonal antibody BC12CA4 in plate trapped antigenenzyme linked immunosorbent assays (PTAELISA) The amount of antigen predicted by PTAELISA was found to increase as grape juice samples were progressively diluted This effect was also observed in B cinerea contaminated boysenberry and blackcurrant juice samples Detection of B cinerea infections by PTAELISA was improved by incubation of grapes at 20C for 48 h and was similar to visual assessments of infected grapes PTAELISA is faster (13 days) than visual B cinerea assessments (1014 days) PTAELISA measurements can be standardised removing human bias in determining B cinerea infection levels