Mepanipyrim haptens and antibodies with nanomolar affinity

Mepanipyrim is an anilinopyrimidine fungicide used worldwide for crop protection. With the aim of developing useful immunoreagents for mepanipyrim immunoanalysis, two new functionalized derivatives were prepared and antibodies were generated. Affinity and specificity were assessed by direct and indirect competitive ELISA using homologous and heterologous conjugates. Although all antibodies were selective for the target analyte, the immunizing hapten structure was revealed as a determinant for high-affinity antibody production (IC50 = 3 nM). © 2013 The Royal Society of Chemistry.This work was supported by Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (AGL2009-12940-C02-01/02/ALI) and co-financed by FEDER funds. F.A.E.T. and J.V.M. were hired by CSIC with postdoctoral contracts, under the JAE and the Ramón y Cajal programmes, respectively. All contracts were co-financed by Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación and by the European Social Fund.Peer Reviewe