Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) of Vitellogenin in Temperate Basses (GenusMorone): Plasma and In Vitro Analyses

Abstract
Blood levels of the egg yolk precursor vitellogenin (VTG) can be used as a definitive marker for the onset and progress of maturation in female teleosts. In the present study, an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed to measure VTG in blood plasma from three species of temperate basses. The antigen capture, competitive ELISA is based on a rabbit antiserum raised against striped bass Morone saxatilis VTG and uses purified striped bass VTG as standard and in the final antigen capture step. The assay was validated for detecting VTG in the plasma of maturing female striped bass, white perch M. americana and white bass M. chrysops. Serial dilutions of blood plasma from vitellogenic females of all three species yielded VTG curves that paralleled the standard curve in the ELISA, whereas no cross reactivity was observed for plasma obtained from males of any Morone species. The working range of the ELISA was 33–1,118 ng/mL (90–10% of binding), and the intra- and interassay coefficients o...

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