A peptide/maltose-binding protein fusion protein used to replace the traditional antigen for immunological detection of deoxynivalenol in food and feed

A deoxynivalenol (DON) epitope clone (D-8) was obtained by phage display technology using anti-DON monoclonal antibodies as a target molecule. Subsequently, a DON antigen mimic (D-8-maltose-binding protein [MBP]) was synthesized by fusing the mimic epitope peptide with MBP. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and urchin-like gold nanoparticle immunochromatographic assay was developed based on D-8-MBP for detection of DON in maize and wheat. The half-maximal inhibitory concentration, lower detection limit, and linear range of the D-8-MBP ELISA were 57.98 +/- 0.97, 9.83, and 11.32-286.77 ng/mL, respectively. The sensitivity of the D-8-MBP ELISA was nearly 2.5 times higher than that of traditional ELISA using DON-bovine serum albumin (BSA). The detection threshold of the colloidal gold immunochromatographic assay for D-8-MBP was 25 ng/mL. Thus, D-8-MBP could be used to replace the traditional DON-BSA antigen for the immunological detection of DON, permitting low cost, rapid detection of DON.