Immunoenzymatic labeling of multiple plasmodial salivary gland sporozoites in a single test

Abstract

A direct, double- and triple-staining immunoenzymatic method detected and differentiated sporozoites by color in Anopheles stephensi salivary glands and in mixed sporozoite slide preparations. A double-staining method used beta-galactosidase- and alkaline phosphatase-labeled monoclonal antibodies to the circumsporozoite (CS) proteins of Plasmodium berghei and P. falciparum in mosquito salivary glands. The CS proteins were distinguished clearly by the blue-green and red substrate products of beta-galactosidase and alkaline phosphatase, respectively. A triple-staining method differentiated by color among a mixture of P. falciparum and two strains of P. vivax sporozoites. Monoclonal antibodies to the CS proteins conjugated to beta-galactosidase (P. falciparum), alkaline phosphatase (P. vivax variant), and horseradish peroxidase (P. vivax predominant) readily color differentiated sporozoites by the blue-green, purple-blue, and orange-brown substrate products, respectively. This assay may have potential use in malaria transmission studies, genetic crosses of variant strains of plasmodia to determine assortment of CS antigen alleles, and as a technique to determine the fate of the CS antigen in infected mosquitoes.