Production of recombinant phages containing specific antibody genes against Citrus tristeza virus

Tristeza is one of the most destructive citrus diseases in the world. The disease is widely distributed throughout the major citrus growing area of Iran. Nowadays، new technologies are being applied for development of diagnosis tools against plant viruses. Among them، phage display has a major role in production of specific monoclonal antibodies. Present research is done due to gain specific recombinant phages against Citrus tristeza virus (CTV). For this aim، a major component of CTV coat protein was selected as an antigen and was produced in recombinant form in bacteria. Naïve phage display libraries containing single chain variable fragments (scFv) were applied for the selection of specific phages. Three rounds of biopanning were applied by using purified coat protein as a binder in immunotubes followed by the selection of specific recombinant phages by indirect ELISA. The selected phages can be used for generation of specific monoclonal antibodies. Based on our knowledge this is the first report for production of specific antibody against CTV by phage display technology.