Rapid Detection of Watermelon Viruses by Reverse Transcription Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification

In this study, a stable, sensitive and specific one-step reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) assay was developed to detect three watermelon viruses. The RT-LAMP primers were designed based on the coat protein gene sequences of the watermelon mosaic virus (WMV) and the squash mosaic virus (SqMV), as well as the cylindrical inclusion protein gene sequence of the zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV). Results could be obtained within an hour at temperatures of 60-61 degrees C. The sensitivity of the RT-LAMP assay was 10-100times higher than that of the conventional RT-PCR method. In addition, RT-LAMP does not require specialized equipment and can be performed under general experimental conditions. This report is the first to use RT-LAMP for WMV, SqMV and ZYMV detection. The proposed RT-LAMP method has great potential for applications in watermelon virus detection, identification and control strategies.