Development of Polyclonal Antibodies-Based Serological Method for the Detection of Calanthe Mild Mosaic Virus and Application in Virus Certification Programme.

Calanthe mild mosaic virus (CalMMV) infecting orchids is an important potyvirus which is known to cause mild leaf mosaic and flower colour-breaking symptoms in Calanthe and other orchid plants. The present study reports the production of polyclonal antibodies against CalMMV using bacterially expressed recombinant coat protein as immunogen, which in turn would be useful in routine indexing and screening of orchid germplasm. The coat protein (CP) gene (~ 807 bp) of CalMMV isolated from infected orchid sample was cloned in expression vector, pET-28a ( +) that yielded ~ 31 kDa fusion protein with Histidine tag (His6BP). The expression of fusion CP was confirmed through SDS-PAGE and Western blotting. The His6BP-CalMMV-CP obtained in soluble state after purification was used to immunize New Zealand white rabbit for the production of polyclonal antibodies (PAb). The PAb produced against the purified fusion protein successfully detected CAlMMV in the orchid samples at a dilution of 1:2000 in direct antigen-coated enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (DAC-ELISA). This study presents the first report of Histidine tag (His6BP) fusion CalMMV-CP-based antibody production and its successful application in the identification of the virus in orchid plants. Outcome of this study will be helpful in routine certification programmes, screening of orchid germplasm and production of CalMMV-free planting materials of orchids.

Kinetic, mechanistic, and thermodynamic investigations on ferrofluid-catalyzed oxidation of L-ascorbic acid by hydrogen peroxide in acidic aqueous solution.

The reduction of ferrofluid (FF) by L-ascorbic acid (H(2)A) and the reoxidation of the reduced FF to its original form by hydrogen peroxide have been investigated in aqueous acidic medium. The rate of reduction of FF was found to be first order with respect to [H(2)A] and [FF] and independent with respect to [H(2)O(2)] and ionic strength. The rate of reduction of FF increased with increasing pH (2.5-4.0), having an inverse first order dependence in [H(+)]. With increasing temperature (15-45 degrees C), the rate of reduction was increased in line with the Arrhenius equation. Based on experimental evidence and results a mechanism, operative to reduce FF and reoxidize the reduced FF by H(2)O(2), which makes the system catalytic, is suggested. Thermodynamic quantities associated with FF-catalyzed oxidation of H(2)A by H(2)O(2) were determined and compared with other closely related systems.