Production of Polyclonal Antibodies to a Recombinant Coat Protein of Potato mop-top virus

The coat protein (CP) coding regions of two Czech Potato mop-top virus (PMTV) isolates were sequenced and shown to be identical. One, the Korneta isolate CP gene, was cloned in several expression vectors. The recombinant PMTV-CP was expressed in Escherichia coli and the purified recombinant protein was used to produce PMTV-specific polyclonal antibodies. The antiserum had a titre of 1 : 2000 in an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and reacted specifically in immunoblotting and IPTAELISA (indirect plate-trapped antigen (PTA)-ELISA).