Development of an immunochromatographic strip for the rapid detection of Pseudomonas syringae pv. maculicola in broccoli and radish seeds

A portable immunochromatographic (IC) strip based on gold-labelled monoclonal antibodies was developed for the rapid detection of Pseudomonas syringae pv. maculicola, a plant pathogen. The IC strip detected 10(5) colony-forming units CFU/ml P. syringae pv. maculicola in pure culture within 10 min and had good specificity. Compared with sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, the strip was equally sensitive; however, it is portable and time-efficient. On broccoli and radish seeds, the IC strips had a sensitivity of 5 x 10(5) CFU/ml and 10(6) CFU/ml, respectively. The results revealed that the IC strip could have potential applications for P. syringae pv. maculicola detection in plant seeds.