Increased viral titers and enhanced reactivity of antibodies to the spike glycoprotein of murine coronavirus produced by infection at pH 6

Infection of cell monolayers by murine coronavirus A59 at pH 6 rather than 7 yielded a ten-fold increase in the infectious titer and a remarkable enhancement of the reactivities of monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies against the spike glycoprotein in immunoblotting, immunoprecipitation and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. These observations are very useful for detecting antibodies against the S glycoprotein of coronaviruses and enhancing infectious titers.