Frontiers in Microbiology (Apr 2016)

Visual detection of West Nile virus using reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification combined with a vertical flow visualization strip

  • Zengguo eCao,
  • Hualei eWang,
  • Lina eWang,
  • Ling eLi,
  • Hongli eJin,
  • Na eFeng,
  • Changping eXu,
  • Jianzhong eWang,
  • Qian eLi,
  • Yongkun eZhao,
  • Tiecheng eWang,
  • Yuwei eGao,
  • Yiyu eLu,
  • Songtao eYang,
  • Xianzhu eXia

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2016.00554
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 7

Abstract

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West Nile virus (WNV) causes a severe zoonosis, which can lead to a large number of casualties and considerable economic losses. A rapid and accurate identification methodfor WNV for use in field laboratories is urgently needed. Here, a method utilizing reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification combined with a vertical flow visualization strip (RT-LAMP-VF) was developed to detect the envelope (E) gene of WNV. The RT-LAMP-VF assay could detect 102 copies/μl ofan WNV RNA standard using a 40 min amplification reaction followed by a 2 min incubationof the amplification product on the visualization strip, and no cross-reaction with other closely related members of theFlavivirus genus was observed. The assay was further evaluated using cells and mouse brain tissues infected with a recombinant rabies virus expressing the E protein of WNV.The assay produced sensitivities of 101.5TCID50/ml and 101.33 TCID50/ml for detection of the recombinant virus in the cells and brain tissues, respectively. Overall, the RT-LAMP-VF assay developed in this study is rapid, simple and effective, and it is therefore suitable for clinical application in the field.

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