# An Immunochromatographic Test Strip and Its Application in Rapid Screening of Pepper Mild Mottle Virus

## TL;DR

This study develops a rapid, field-applicable test strip to detect the pepper mild mottle virus, which could help control its spread and impact on pepper crops.

## Contribution

A new immunochromatographic test strip using monoclonal antibodies for rapid and reliable PMMoV detection in the field.

## Key findings

- The test strip detected PMMoV with a limit of 1 ng/mL in 10 minutes.
- Field testing confirmed the test strip's reliability in identifying PMMoV.
- The test strip can distinguish between different PMMoV-infected samples.

## Abstract

The quality and productivity of peppers have been severely impacted by the pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV). To effectively control the transmission and damage caused by PMMoV, it is crucial to establish a simple, rapid, and field-applicable detection method. In this study, the coat protein of PMMoV was induced expression as an immunogen. After cell fusion and subcloning, a total of 10 hybridoma cell lines that stably secrete the PMMoV monoclonal antibody were screened. Through antibody pairing and screening, using monoclonal antibody 4D7 as the capture antibody and 3B9 as the detection antibody, an immunochromatographic test strip for PMMoV was established. Under ideal conditions, the test strip’s color development indicated that its detection limit for the target protein was 1 ng/mL, and the result was obtained in 10 min. The findings of field testing and specific detection demonstrated that this test strip could reliably identify PMMoV and it is capable of distinguishing between different disease samples collected in this study. It is anticipated that this test strip will be able to offer services for PMMoV field detection.