AN ENZYME IMMUNOASSAY FOR ANATOXI-A

CONSIDERABLE ATTENTION HAS BEEN FOCUSED UPON THE POSSIBLE USE OF TOXIC BIOLOGICAL AGENTS IN BOTH SOUTHEAST ASIA AND AFGHANISTAN. SUCH REPORTED INCIDENTS INDICATE A NEED FOR IMPROVING THE UNITED STATES' CAPABILITY OF ACCURATELY DETECTING A VARIETY OF NATURALLY OCCURRING TOXINS. ONE SUCH TOXIN OF CONSIDERABLE INTEREST IS ANATOXIN-A, A SECONDARY METABOLITE OF THE CYANOBACTERIA (BLUE-GREEN ALGAE) ANABENA FLOS-AQUAE, WHICH HAS BEEN SHOWN TO BE EXTRAORDINARILY TOXIC. NUMEROUS EXAMPLES OF ANIMAL DEATHS HAVE BEEN REPORTED AFTER DRINKING FROM LAKES AND PONDS FOLLOWING BLOOMS OF THIS FRESH-WATER ALGAE. WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP AN IMMUNOASSAY TEST, BASED ON EITHER AN RIA OR AN ELISA FORMAT, THAT WILL PERMIT RAPID DETECTION OF THIS TOXIN DIRECTLY IN WATER SAMPLES. PREVIOUS SYNTHETIC WORK HAS MADE AVAILABLE AMPLE QUANTITIES OF THE TOXIN FOR TEST DEVELOPMENT AND THE SYNTHETIC ROUTE IS READILY ADAPTABLE FOR RADIOLABELING THE TOXIN. POLYCLONAL ANTIBODIES AGAINST THIS HAPTEN WILL BE RAISED USING CONVENTIONAL METHODS AND THOSE ANTIBODIES WILL BE EVALUATED FOR THEIR USE IN BOTH RIA AND ELISA FORMATS.