MUMBAI, India, Aug. 12 -- Intellectual Property India has published a patent application (202611076208 A) filed by Maharishi Markandeshwar Deemed To Be University on June 19, 2026, for Structure-Guided Epitope-Specific Peptide Antibodies For Immunodiagnostic Detection Of Major Apple-Infecting Viruses.
Inventors include Gourav Vats; Yashika Walia; and Sunny Dhir.
The application for the patent was published on August 07, 2026, under issue no. 32/2026.
Abstract: The present invention relates to epitope-specific peptide antibodies against major apple-infecting viruses and methods for their identification, production, and use in immunodiagnostic assays. The invention employs an integrated computational and experimental pipeline involving biochemical characterization, structural modeling, antigenicity prediction, interaction analysis, and epitope validation to identify structurally exposed, conserved, hydrophilic, and highly antigenic peptide epitopes from viral coat proteins of apple stem grooving virus (ASGV), apple stem pitting virus (ASPV), apple chlorotic leaf spot virus (ACLSV), and apple mosaic virus (ApMV). Three-dimensional coat protein structures are generated using AlphaFold2 and I-TASSER and validated through multiple structural quality assessment parameters. Selected peptide epitopes are chemically synthesized and used for production of peptide-specific polyclonal antibodies. The antibodies are evaluated in indirect ELISA assays and demonstrate superior sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic accuracy, and reduced cross-reactivity compared to antibodies raised against full-length viral coat proteins. The invention provides a structure-guided immunodiagnostic platform for reliable detection of apple viruses with improved concordance to RT-PCR validation.
Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.
