Detecting decay fungi with antibody-based tests and immunoassays

Early detection of wood decay can prolong the service life of wood. Antibodies are the ideal probe for detecting fungi that cause biodeterioration because they are highly specific and can quantitatively determine the fungal antigen concentration from highly complex structures, such as wood. Polyclonal antibodies recognize multiple chemical sites of the targeted molecule, in our case, a fungal glycoprotein, while monoclonal antibodies recognize one specific protein sequence on the targeted molecule. Both polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies have been utilized separately or in concert to design various assay formats to detect incipient wood decay; depending on the target organism and the test format, an assay can be designed to be specific or broad spectrum, quantitative or qualitative. Immunodiagnostic tests for wood decay fungi include, in order of least to most sensitive, the particle agglutination assay, dotblot immunoassay, enzyme linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA), and a patented particle capture immunoassay.