NEUTRALIZING MONOCLONAL-ANTIBODIES TO STRIPED JACK NERVOUS NECROSIS VIRUS (SJNNV)

Viral nervous necrosis (VNN) caused by a nodavirus (striped jack nervous necrosis virus: SJNNV) is a serious problem in seed production process of striped jack Pseudocaranx dentex in Japan. Mouse monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) to SJNNV were produced by using a homogenate of infected larval striped jack. Among 8 MAbs reacting with the homogenate of infected larvae in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), three MAbs (SJ-102B, SJ-204D, SJ-207C) were proved to recognize the 42 kDa coat protein of SJNNV by Western blot analysis. An in vivo neutralization test, where larval striped jack were exposed to purified SJNNV (100 ng/ml) or the virus treated with MAbs (1 mg) and the resultant infection with SJNNV in larvae was monitored by ELISA using an anti-SJNNV rabbit serum, exhibited that two MAbs SJ-102B and SJ-204D have neutralizing activity against SJNNV.