The production of polyclonal sera against plant pathogens allows the development of immunoassays to quickly identify and characterize the pathogens at low cost. Polyclonal sera were produced against Crinipellis perniciosa, the causal agent of witches' broom disease of cacao (Theobromae cacao) using hyphae extracts from isolates collected in Pará and Bahia states, to identify and distinguish isolates from various regions and hosts. Serum 1 was produced from isolate ESJOH-1 (collected in Pará) and serum 2, from isolate CP-85 (from Bahia). There was no cross reaction between the two sera with mycelia extracts from Alternaria solani, Marasmius sp., Oudemansiella canarii and Verticillium fungicola. The sera presented high affinity cross reaction with Moniliophthora roreri and medium- to low cross-reaction against Marasmius cladophyllus. The sera were evaluated against isolates from biotype-C, collected in the states of Amazonas, Bahia, Mato Grosso, Rondônia and Pará. The serological reaction of both sera did not allow to distinguish the isolates' site of origin (Pará and Bahia), nor did they differentiate isolates of biotype C. The antigen binding sites were different for serum 1 and 2, because both exhibited different response to the same strains. However, these differences in affinity did not allow for differentiating the origin of collection, host or biotype, but allowed for the identification of C. perniciosa belonging to biotypes C and S.
ELISA; Moniliophthora roreri; variability; witches' broom disease; cacao; Theobroma
