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In this article, we report on poly(amidoamine) dendrimers (PAMAM) as coupling agents for recombinant single-chain (ScFv) antibodies to nanoparticle (NP) labels, for use in immunoassay. We present a simple theory for the kinetics of particle capture onto a surface by means of an antibody–antigen reaction, in which the important parameter is the fraction of the particle surface that is active for reaction. We describe how increasing the generation number of the linking dendrimers significantly increased the fraction of the NP surface that is active for antigen binding and consequently also increased the assay kinetic rates. Use of dendrimers for conjugation of the NP to the antibody resulted in a significantly higher surface coverage of active antibody, in comparison with mono-valent linker chemistry. As a direct consequence, the increase in effective avidity significantly out-weighed any effect of a decreased diffusion coefficient due to the NP, when compared to that of a molecular dye-labelled antibody. The signal to noise ratio of the G4.5 dendrimer-sensitised nanoparticles out-performed the dye-labelled antibody by approximately four-fold. Particle aggregation experiments with the multi-valent antigen CRP demonstrated reaction-limited aggregation whose rate increased significantly with increasing generation number of the dendrimer linker.

This paper describes a biosensor-based method for detection of fungal spores using Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR). The approach involves the use of a mouse monoclonal antibody (Pst mAb8) and a SPR sensor for label-free detection of urediniospores from the model organism Puccinia striiformis f.sp. tritici (Pst). In the subtractive inhibition assay, urediniospores and Pst mAb8 were mixed, urediniospore-bound Pst mAb8 removed by centrifugation and the remaining Pst mAb8 quantified using the SPR sensor. Assay conditions were optimised and a detection limit of 3.1 x 105 urediniospores/ml was achieved. Spiked Pst samples were further examined in a background of a related spore and it was found that Pst quantification was possible in this mixture. This study represent the first use of SPR technology for fungal spore detection as well as the first report of a successful biosensor-based detection strategy for Pst.

The fungal pathogen Pst causes yellow rust disease in wheat plants leading to crop losses. The organism spreads by releasing wind-dispersed urediniospores from infected plants. In this study a library of novel monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) was developed against Pst urediniospores. Nine mAb-producing cell lines were cloned and their cross-reactivities characterised against a panel of airborne fungal spores representing genera commonly found in the same environment as Pst. Two specific mAbs were used to develop a competitive ELISA (Pst mAb4) and a subtractive inhibition ELISA (Pst mAb8). Standard curves for both assays had good intra- and interday reproducibility. The subtractive inhibition ELISA had greater sensitivity with a detection limit of 1.5 105 spores ml1. Cross-reactivity studies of Pst mAb8 in the subtractive inhibition ELISA, showed reaction with other Puccinia spores only, suggesting that common epitopes exist within this genus. The biosensor-compatible Pst mAb8 assay principle developed in this study has the potential to be implemented in future â¿¿label-freeâ¿¿ in-the-field systems for Pst detection.

This study describes a biosensing principle for detection of fungal spores using surface plasmon resonance (SPR). The approach involves the use of a monoclonal antibody (mab) and a SPR sensor for label-free detection of the model organism Puccinia striiformis f.sp. tritici (Pst) a biotrophic fungus causing wheat yellow rust. We have developed mabs towards intact whole spores and used a subtractive inhibition format for detection of spores in solution. The antibody was incubated with different spore concentrations and the remaining free antibody was quantified using a BIAcore® 3000 sensor. Decreasing binding of mab to the sensor surface was observed as the Pst urediniospore concentration was increased. The detection range for the assay was 1.7 x 106 – 5.3 x 104 spores/ml. This study describes the first use of SPR for detection of fungal spores and the generic principle has the potential to be used in detection of any spore species and could be implemented in future on-site biosensors.