Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Immunoluorescence.
In the immunoluorescence procedure, the antibody is conjugated with a mole-
cule of a luorescent dye (Fig. 10.15). This is then mixed with a culture of a bacterium on a glass microscope
slide. It will then react with the antigen speciic to the target bacterium in the cell wall of the bacterium. Any
bound antibody is washed off and the antigen-antibody complex can be recognized as luorescing bacterial
particles under a luorescent microscope. If the antigen is not present, no luorescence will be evident.
Figure 10.15. Top: schematic diagram of an immunoluorescence procedure. Bottom: schematic diagram of
microscopic view of a positive luorescent reaction of bacteria coated with speciic antibodies labeled with
a luorescent dye.
