Test, antigen, antibody, PCR… these are words that were almost unknown to the vast majority of people which, unfortunately, have become part of our daily vocabulary in these times of pandemic that we live in.

In previous posts we already introduced tomato brown fruit rugose virus (ToBRFV) and described the PCR test that Abiopep developed at the time to contribute to stop the spread of ToBRFV. We have now developed new diagnostic tests based on monoclonal antibodies as described in this article published in the journal “MDPI Viruses”. So far, commercially available antibody tests are unable to distinguish between ToBRFV and its close relatives TMV and ToMV, which can also infect tomato plants. Therefore, a positive result using currently available ELISA tests is not fully reliable and it will always be necessary to use another type of test such as PCR to confirm it. The great advantage of our monoclonal antibodies is that they are able to uniquely and unequivocally distinguish ToBRFV, which makes them an accurate and effective tool for the detection of this virus, refining the diagnosis and avoiding retesting with other tests to confirm ToBRFV infection.

At Abiopep we are committed to provide the necessary tools to guarantee effective and sustainable plant health, and for this reason we hope to contribute to slowing down the expansion of ToBRFV with these monoclonal antibodies.