Production and characterisation of a monoclonal antibody to Serpulina hyodysenteriae

A monoclonal antibody (mAb) directed against Serpulina hyodysenteriae, the causative agent of swine dysentery, was produced and characterised. The mAb (BJL/SH1) reacted in Western blots with a protein with a molecular mass of about 30 kDa in outer membrane preparations from a range of S. hyodysenteriae isolates of different serotypes. It did not react with preparations made from a variety of non-S. hyodysenteriae intestinal spirochaetes. Immunogold labelling was used to confirm the location of the reactive epitope on the cell outer membrane. The mAb agglutinated and produced fluorescence only with strains of S. hyodysenteriae, and should prove to be a useful reagent for identification of S. hyodysenteriae.