A capillary isoelectric focusing-whole column imagingdetection (CIEF-WCID) method was used to determinethe isoelectric point (p
I) of norovirus virus-like particles(VLPs). The VLPs were produced from noroviruses thatrepresented the two genogroups, genogroup I (Funabashi,Seto, and Norwalk) and genogroup II (Hawaii, Kashiwa,and Narita). Using the imaged CIEF-WCID detectiontechnique, separation was accomplished using a short(4-5 cm) internally coated capillary (100-
m diameter)and a whole-column optical absorption imaging detectoroperated at 280 nm. CIEF-WCID experiments showed thesimilarity of the p
I values of VLPs from genogroups I andII, with p
I values of 5.9, 5.9, 6.0, and 6.0 for Funabashi,Norwalk, Seto, and Hawaii. The two other VLPs displayedp
I values of 5.5 (Kashiwa) and 6.9 (Narita). The VLPpeaks were shown to be reproducibility resolved. CIEF-WCID shows great promise for norovirus detection inpublic health, clinical, and food safety applications, asCIEF-WCID overcomes several limitations of the currentlyused genetic and immunological methods.