Development of a colorimetric reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification assay for the detection of Mirafiori lettuce big-vein virus

An RT-LAMP assay was developed to detect Mirafiori lettuce big vein virus (MiLBVV) and was compared with DAS-ELISA and RT-PCR. All primers were designed on the basis of the coat protein gene of the virus. In addition, a novel immunocapture (IC) RT-LAMP assay for rapid and easy detection of MiLBVV was developed, and factors such as safety, simplicity, cost, user-friendliness and safety were compared with those of DAS-ELISA, RT-PCR and RT-LAMP assays. Compared with DAS-ELISA and RT-PCR, RT-LAMP and IC-RT-LAMP had higher sensitivity (100-fold) but similar specificity, with the advantage of a shorter assay time and no need for RNA extraction (in IC-RT-LAMP). As RT-LAMP requires only very basic instruments and the results can be obtained by visual inspection (using GeneFinder (TM) dye), this technique provides a simple and reliable tool for laboratory research.