Abstract
Protein p72 is the major capsid protein of African swine fever virus (ASFV) and is an important target for test and vaccine development. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) were prepared against a recombinant antigenic fragment, from amino acid (aa) 20-303, expressed in baculovirus. A total of 29 mAbs were recovered and tested by immunofluorescent antibody (IFA) staining on ASFV Lisbon-infected Vero cells. Six antibodies were IFA-positive and selected for further characterization. Epitope mapping was performed against overlapping polypeptides expressed in E. coli and oligopeptides. Based on oligopeptide recognition, the mAbs were divided into 4 groups: mAb 85 (aa 165-171); mAbs 65-3 and 6H9-1 (aa 265-280); mAbs 8F7-3 and 23 (aa 280-294); and mAb 4A4 (aa 290-303). All mAbs were located within a highly conserved region in p72. This panel of antibodies provides the opportunity to develop new assays for the detection of ASFV antibody and antigen.