Ferguson C M, Booth N A, Allan E J
Department of Agriculture, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK.
Lett Appl Microbiol. 2000 Nov;31(5):390-4. doi: 10.1046/j.1472-765x.2000.00834.x.
To develop an ELISA for the detection of antigens derived from stable Bacillus subtilis L-form bacteria and to detect these in plants injected with L-form bacteria.
A sandwich ELISA was developed and its specificity was investigated using L-forms and cell-walled forms of B. subtilis, different Bacillus species and a range of bacteria isolated from glasshouse-grown strawberry plants. The detection limits of the ELISA were approximately 10(3) viable cells ml(-1) for L-forms compared with 10(7) viable cells ml(-1) for cell-walled forms. Results showed that L-forms survived and moved within strawberry tissues injected with L-form bacteria.
An ELISA that selectively detects B. subtilis L-form bacteria was developed and shown to confirm the presence of L-forms in plants.
This will be a valuable rapid method to further studies on L-form plant interactions.
