title: Development and application of a monoclonal-antibody technique for counting Aureococcus anophagefferens, an alga causing recurrent brown tides in the Mid-Atlantic United States.
abstract: A method was developed for the rapid detection and enumeration of Aureococcus anophagefferens, the cause of harmful algal blooms called "brown tides" in estuaries of the Mid-Atlantic United States. The method employs a monoclonal antibody (MAb) and a colorimetric, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay format. The MAb obtained exhibits high reactivity with A. anophagefferens and very low cross-reactivities with a phylogenetically diverse array of other protists and bacteria. Standard curves are constructed for each 96-well microtiter plate by using known amounts of a preserved culture of A. anophagefferens. This approach allows estimation of the abundance of the alga in natural samples. The MAb method was compared to an existing method that employs polyclonal antibodies and epifluorescence microscopy and to direct microscopic counts of A. anophagefferens in samples with high abundances of the alga. The MAb method provided increased quantitative accuracy and greatly reduced sample processing time. A spatial survey of several Long Island estuaries in May 2000 using this new approach documented a range of abundances of A. anophagefferens in these bays spanning nearly 3 orders of magnitude.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089-0371, USA. dcaron@usc.edu
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Caron
authors.forename: Mark R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Dennett
authors.forename: Dawn M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Moran
authors.forename: Rebecca A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Schaffner
authors.forename: Darcy J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Lonsdale
authors.forename: Christopher J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Gobler
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nuzzi
authors.forename: Tim I
authors.initials: TI
authors.lastname: McLean
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002452:Cell Count; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D056890:Eukaryota / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D008857:Microscopy, Interference; D008873:Mid-Atlantic Region; D000459:Phaeophyceae / Q000145:classification / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal