Journal des techniques immunologiques et des maladies infectieuses

Modern Identification of Immunological Techniques

Catarina E. Hioe

In the detection and identification of filamentous fungi and yeasts in foods, immunological techniques have become and will remain an important and widespread technology. This is especially possible due to the availability of monoclonal antibody (MAb) technology, which has revolutionised the identification and diagnosis of species in the development process. As many other microorganisms, fungi contain a variety of antigens that can be used with the desired specificity for identification. Isolate-, species- and genus-specific antibodies that are very sensitive and target-specific can be raised. The elevation of monoclonal antibodies from contaminated food products, however, causes problems with fungal antigen extraction. The advancement of in vitro technologies in which antibody genes are expressed in bacteria would simplify and allow the manufacturing process of monoclonal antibodies more widely available.