Comparative quantitation of abscisic acid in plant extracts by gas-liquid chromatography and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using the avidin-biotin system.

In this report we describe an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the quantitation of abscisic acid (ABA) in plant extracts. A microtitration plate is coated with an ABA-protein complex. The ABA, standard or sample, is then added to each well with a limiting quantity of rabbit anti-ABA antibodies. During the following incubation period, antibodies bind either to free or to bound ABA on the plates. After washing, bound antibodies are indirectly labelled in two steps by the means of biotinylated goat antirabbit immunoglobulin-G antibodies which act as a link between rabbit anti-ABA antibodies and an avidin-alkaline phosphatase complex. The relative enzyme activity bound is measured spectrophotometrically. The detection limit of this method is 5 pg ABA and the measuring range extends to 10 ng. Gas-liquid-chromatography controls, with an electron capture detector, show a good correlation with ELISA results obtained using extracts of Lycopersicon esculentum, Nicotiana tabacum and Pseudotsuga menziesii samples purified by high-performance liquid chromatography. This provides a good argument for the accuracy of the immunoenzymatic method. The indirect labelling of antibodies, with the avidin-biotin amplifying system, should make this technique suitable for the quantitation of other plant growth substances against which specific antibodies are available.