Single-chain fragment variable antibody against the capsid protein of bovine immunodeficiency virus and its use in ELISA

Recombinant antibody specific for the capsid (CA) protein of bovine immunodeficiency virus (BIV) was generated in the form of single-chain fragment variable (ScFv) using the phage display technique for affinity selection. The variable heavy (VH) and variable light (VL) chain gene fragments were recovered from cells of CA-specific hybridoma (9G10) described previously. The VH and VL DNA fragments were assembled through a flexible linker DNA to generate ScFv fragment which was cloned in a phagemid expression vector to express ScFv protein. The specific reactivity of the expressed ScFv to the CA antigen was confirmed by Western blot, and the ScFv fragment was used to develop a competitive inhibition ELISA for detection of antibodies to BIV in cattle and buffalo. The recombinant antibody was shown to be more than four times sensitive than its parent monoclonal antibody (MAb, 9G10) by testing of spiked samples of reference positive sera. The improved sensitivity of the recombinant antibody-based ELISA was confirmed by the detection of a larger proportion of animals with BIV antibody by it than by the MAb-based ELISA.