ARS | Publication request: RAPID FLUORESCENCE POLARIZATION IMMUNOASSAY FOR THE MYCOTOXIN DEOXYNIVALENOL IN WHEAT

Submitted to: Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: January 14, 2002
Publication Date: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Deoxynivalenol (DON) is a toxin produced by a mold that is a common pathogen of cereal grains worldwide, in particular wheat, barley, and maize. DON causes substantial losses to U.S. agriculture through reduced grain quality, reduced feed efficiency of domestic animals, and through the costs of monitoring food. This manuscript describes significant improvements to a fluorescence polarization immunoassay originally developed in our laboratory for measuring DON in wheat. The improvements make the measurements quicker, easier to perform, and greatly enhance the usefulness of the method.

Technical Abstract: The fungus Fusarium graminearum, a pathogen of both wheat and maize, produces a toxin, deoxynivalenol (DON), that causes disease in livestock. A rapid test for DON in wheat was developed using the principle of fluorescence polarization (FP) immunoassay. The assay was based upon the competition between DON and a novel DON-fluorescein tracer (DON-FL2) for a DON-specific monoclonal antibody in solution. The method, which is a substantial improvement over our previous DON FP immunoassay, combined a rapid (3 min) extraction step with a rapid (2 min) detection step. A series of naturally contaminated wheat and maize samples were analyzed by both FP immunoassay and liquid chromatography (HPLC-UV). For wheat the HPLC-UV and FP methods agreed well (linear regression r2=0.936) while for maize the two methods did not (r2=0.849). We conclude that the FP method is useful for screening wheat, but not maize, for DON.