Development of a LAMP assay using a portable device for the real-time detection of cotton leaf curl disease in field conditions

Cotton production is seriously affected by the prevalent cotton leaf curl disease (CLCuD) that originated from Nigeria (Africa) to various parts of Asia including Pakistan, India, China and Philippines. Due to CLCuD, Pakistan suffers heavy losses approximately 2 billion USD per annum. Numerous reports showed that CLCuD is associated with multiple species of begomoviruses, alphasatellites and a single species of betasatellite, that is ‘Cotton leaf curl Multan betasatellite’ (CLCuMuB). The most prevalent form of CLCuD is the combination of ‘Cotton leaf curl Kokhran virus’-Burewala strain (CLCuKoV-Bur) and CLCuMuB. Thus, the availability of an in-field assay for the timely detection of CLCuD is important for the control and management of the disease. In this study, a robust method using the loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay was developed for the detection of CLCuD. Multiple sets of six primers were designed based on the conserved regions of CLCuKoV-Bur and CLCuMuB-βC1 genes. The results showed that the primer set targeting the CLCuMuB-βC1 gene performed best when the LAMP assay was performed at 58°C using 100 ng of total plant tissue DNA as a template in a 25 µl reaction volume. The limit of detection for the assay was as low as 22 copies of total purified DNA template per reaction. This assay was further adapted to perform as a colorimetric and real-time LAMP assay which proved to be advantageously applied for the rapid and early point-of-care detection of CLCuD in the field. Application of the assay could help to prevent the huge economic losses caused by the disease and contribute to the socio-economic development of underdeveloped countries.