• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.30 no.3
• /
• pp.459-468
• /
• 2020

This study established a new polymerase spiral reaction (PSR) that combines with reverse transcription reactions for HCV detection targeting 5'UTR gene. To avoid cross-contamination of aerosols, an isothermal amplification tube (IAT), as a separate containment control, was used to judge the result. After optimizing the RT-PSR reaction system, its effectiveness and specificity were tested against 15 different virus strains which included 8 that were HCV positive and 7 as non-HCV controls. The results showed that the RT-PSR assay effectively detected all 8 HCV strains, and no false positives were found among the 7 non-HCV strains. The detection limit of our RT-PSR assay is comparable to the real-time RT-PCR, but is more sensitive than the RT-LAMP. The established RT-PSR assay was further evaluated for detection of HCV in clinical blood samples, and the resulting 80.25% detection rate demonstrated better or similar effectiveness compared to the RT-LAMP (79.63%) and real-time RT-PCR (80.25%). Overall, the results showed that the RT-PSR assay offers high specificity and sensitivity for HCV detection with great potential for screening HCV in clinical blood samples.

• Genomics & Informatics
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.40.1-40.8
• /
• 2020

Avian influenza (AIV) outbreaks can induce fatal human pulmonary infections in addition to economic losses to the poultry industry. In this study, we aimed to develop a rapid and sensitive point-of-care AIV test using loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) technology. We designed three sets of reverse transcription LAMP (RT-LAMP) primers targeting the matrix (M) and hemagglutinin (HA) genes of the H5 and H9 subtypes. RT-LAMP targeting the universal M gene was designed to screen for the presence of AIV and RT-LAMP assays targeting H5-HA and H9-HA were designed to discriminate between the H5 and H9 subtypes. All three RT-LAMP assays showed specific amplification results without nonspecific reactions. In terms of sensitivity, the detection limits of our RT-LAMP assays were 100 to 1,000 RNA copies per reaction, which were 10 times more sensitive than the detection limits of the reference reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) (1,000 to 10,000 RNA copies per reaction). The reaction time of our RT-LAMP assays was less than 30 min, which was approximately four times quicker than that of conventional RT-PCR. Altogether, these assays successfully detected the existence of AIV and discriminated between the H5 or H9 subtypes with higher sensitivity and less time than the conventional RT-PCR assay.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.29 no.10
• /
• pp.1543-1552
• /
• 2019

Salmonella is a common zoonotic and foodborne pathogen that causes high morbidity and mortality in developing countries. In this study, we established and validated a polymerase spiral reaction (PSR) assay which targeted the conserved invasion gene (invA) of Salmonella by SYBR Green I indicator methods. Subsequently, assays for determination of the optimal conditions for optimal specificity and sensitivity of PSR were performed. We performed comprehensive evaluations using loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) and real-time PCR. A total number of 532 samples of daily food were analyzed by PSR. Twenty-seven bacterial strains were tested in the specificity assay, from which positive results were obtained only for 14-Salmonella strains. However, none of the 13 non-Salmonella strains was amplified. Similarly with LAMP and real-time PCR, the detection limit of the PSR assay was 50 CFU/ml. The PSR method was also successfully applied to evaluate the contamination with Salmonella in 532 samples of daily food, corroborating traditional culture method data. The novel PSR method is simple, sensitive, and rapid and provides new insights into the prevention and detection of foodborne diseases.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.23 no.2
• /
• pp.246-250
• /
• 2013

In this study, a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) method to rapidly detect Staphylococcus aureus strains was developed and evaluated by extensively applying a large number of S. aureus isolates from clinical and food samples. Six primers were specially designed for recognizing eight distinct sequences on the species-specific femA gene of S. aureus. The detection limits were 100 fg DNA/tube and $10^4$ CFU/ml. The LAMP assay was applied to 432 S. aureus strains isolated from 118 clinical and 314 food samples. Total detection rates for the LAMP and polymerase chain reaction assays were 98.4% (306/311) and 89.4% (278/311), respectively.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.52 no.3
• /
• pp.273-280
• /
• 2008

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) remains a major worldwide public health problem. In recent years, the incidence of MTB has been rising. Rapid and reliable diagnosis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is essential to initiate correct treatment, avoid severe complications, and prevent transmission. LAMP was used to develop a rapid and sensitive laboratory diagnostic system for the MTB. In this research, the loop-mediated isothermal amplification method (LAMP) that amplifies DNA with high specificity and rapidity at an isothermal condition was evaluated for rapid detection of MTB. Undiluted DNA (2.10 × 106 copy/mL), 10-1, 10-2, 10-3, 10-4, 10-5 and 10-6 (copy/mL) of MTB DNA were amplified by PCR and LAMP to determine the sensitivity of the assay. At results, the LAMP assay reported here has the advantages of rapid amplification, high sensitivity, and high specificity and will be useful for rapid and reliable clinical diagnosis of MTB in hospital clinical laboratory.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.28 no.11
• /
• pp.1928-1936
• /
• 2018

Recently, human infections caused by severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV), which can lead to fatality, have dramatically increased in East Asia. With the unavailability of vaccines or antiviral drugs to prevent and/or treat SFTSV infection, early rapid diagnosis is critical for prevention and control of the disease. Here, we report the development of a simple, rapid and sensitive portable detection method for SFTSV infection applying reverse transcription-loop mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) combined with one-pot colorimetric visualization and electro-free reaction platform. This method utilizes a pocket warmer to facilitate diagnosis in a resource-limited setting. Specific primers were designed to target the highly-conserved region of L gene of SFTSV. The detection limit of the RT-LAMP assay was approximately $10^0$ viral genome copies from three different SFTSV strains. This assay exhibited comparable sensitivity to qRT-PCR and 10-fold more sensitivity than conventional RT-PCR, with a rapid detection time of 30 to 60 minutes. The RT-LAMP assay using SFTSV clinical specimens has demonstrated a similar detection rate to qRT-PCR and a higher detection rate compared to conventional RT-PCR. Moreover, there was no observed cross-reactive amplification of other human infectious viruses including Japanese Encephalitis Virus (JEV), Dengue, Enterovirus, Zika, Influenza and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV). This highly sensitive, electro- and equipment-free rapid colorimetric visualization method is feasible for resource-limited SFTSV field diagnosis.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
• /
• v.34 no.3
• /
• pp.277-282
• /
• 2019

The object of this study is to compare the performance of the 3M Molecular Detection Assay 2 (3M MDA 2) and the Korea Standard Food Codex (KSFC) Method (i.e., isolation media and real-time PCR) in detecting Salmonella Typhimurium and Listeria monocytogenes in traditional Korean foods. Yuk-hwe and Yuk-sashimi (types of raw beef dishes) were artificially inoculated with $10^0-10^4CFU/25g$ of L. monocytogenes and S. Typhimurium. Citrobacter freundii and Listeria innocua were used as competitive microflora. After enrichment, the samples were analyzed using 3M MDA 2 and real-time PCR. All samples inoculated at concentrations of $10^0-10^4CFU/25g$ without competitive microflora were positive for S. Typhimurium and L. monocytogenes, as detected by 3M MDA 2 and Korea Standard Food Codex (KFSC) Method. In addition, part of the samples were positive for the presence of C. freundii and L. innocua. The 3M MDA 2 - Salmonella and Korea Standard Food Codex (KFSC) Method showed similar detection performances in Yuk-hwe and Yuk-sashimi. The 3M MDA 2 method for Salmonella and Listeria, which is a LAMP-based technology, can be used for rapid detection of S. Typhimurium and L. monocytogenes in raw beef. LAMP bioluminescence assays provide results on the subsequent day and are simple to use compared with the Korea Standard Food Codex (KFSC) Method, particularly in terms of DNA preparation.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.29 no.3
• /
• pp.454-464
• /
• 2019

Salmonellosis is a highly contagious bacterial disease that threatens both human and poultry health. Tests that can detect Salmonella in the field are urgently required to facilitate disease control and for epidemiological investigations. Here, we combined loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) with a chromatographic lateral flow dipstick (LFD) to rapidly and accurately detect Salmonella. LAMP primers were designed to target the Salmonella invA gene. LAMP conditions were optimized by adjusting the ratio of inner to outer primers, $MgSO_4$ concentration, dNTP mix concentration, amplification temperature, and amplification time. We evaluated the specificity of our novel LAMP-LFD method using six Salmonella species and six related non-Salmonella strains. All six of the Salmonella strains, but none of the non-Salmonella strains, were amplified. LAMP-LFD was sensitive enough to detect concentrations of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Pullorum genomic DNA as low as $89fg/{\mu}l$, which is 1,000 times more sensitive than conventional PCR. When artificially contaminated feed samples were analyzed, LAMP-LFD was also more sensitive than PCR. Finally, LAMP-LFD gave no false positives across 350 chicken anal swabs. Therefore, our novel LAMP-LFD assay was highly sensitive, specific, convenient, and fast, making it a valuable tool for the early diagnosis and monitoring of Salmonella infection in chickens.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.31 no.4
• /
• pp.610-620
• /
• 2021

There has been increasing interest in the head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) that is caused by high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) and has posed a significant challenge to Otolaryngologists. A rapid, sensitive, and reliable method is required for the detection of HR-HPV in clinical specimens to prevent and treat HPV-induced diseases. In this study, a multiple cross-linking spiral amplification (MCLSA) assay was developed for the visual detection of HPV-16. In the MCLSA assay, samples were incubated under optimized conditions at 62℃ for 45 min, and after mixing with the SYBR Green I (SGI) dye, the positive amplicons showed bright green fluorescence while the negative amplicons exhibited no obvious change. The specificity test revealed that the developed MCLSA technique had high specificity and could effectively distinguish all five HPV-16 strains from other pathogenic microorganisms. In terms of analytical sensitivity, the limit of detection (LoD) of MCLSA assay was approximately 5.4 × 101 copies/tube, which was 10-fold more sensitive than loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) and RT-PCR. The detection results of laryngeal cancer specimens collected from 46 patients with suspected HPV infection in the Liaoning region demonstrated that the positive detection rates of MCLSA and hybridized capture 2 kit were 32.61% (15/46). The true positive rate of the MCLSA assay was higher than that of RT-PCR (100% vs. 93.33%) and LAMP (100% vs. 86.67%). Therefore, the MCLSA assay developed in the present study could be a potentially useful tool for the point-of-care (PoC) diagnosis of HR-HPV, especially in resource-limited countries.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
• /
• v.31 no.4
• /
• pp.438-440
• /
• 2015

We developed a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) method to rapidly diagnose Wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV) during quarantine inspections of imported wheat, corn, oats, and millet. The LAMP method was developed as a plant quarantine inspection method for the first time, and its simplicity, quickness, specificity and sensitivity were verified compared to current reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and nested PCR quarantine methods. We were able to quickly screen for WSMV at quarantine sites with many test samples; thus, this method is expected to contribute to plant quarantine inspections.