Production of specific monoclonal antibodies to Burkholderia pseudomallei and their diagnostic application.

Hybridomas secreting monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) specific to Burkholderia pseudomallei were produced by immunizing BALB/cJ mice with crude culture filtrate of B. pseudomallei. Two monoclonal antibodies were found to be highly specific to B.pseudomallei as tested by indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and immunoblotting against a panel of crude whole cell extracts from B. pseudomallei, B. cepacia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, P.putida, and Escherichia coli. One of the specific MAbs, clone SP-M, IgM subclass, could directly agglutinate all 42 B. pseudomallei, isolates. The study has shown that the agglutinating MAb has potential for rapid identification of B. pseudomallei in primary bacterial culture from clinical specimens. The antibody can be used in bacteriology laboratories to reduce time of biochemical methods, which require a few days.