An ELISA for the detection of Bacillus subtilis L-form bacteria confirms their symbiosis in strawberry.
OBJECTIVE
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.


RESULTS
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.


CONCLUSIONS
An ELISA that selectively detects B. subtilis L-form bacteria was developed and shown to confirm the presence of L-forms in plants.


CONCLUSIONS
This will be a valuable rapid method to further studies on L-form plant interactions.
Ferguson
C M
CM
Department of Agriculture, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK.
Booth
N A
NA
Allan
E J
EJ
D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods*; D005638:Fruit / Q000382:microbiology*; D007740:L Forms / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D019685:Rosales / Q000382:microbiology; D013559:Symbiosis