Detection of tomato yellow leaf curl virus by loop-mediated isothermal amplification reaction

The genomic DNA molecule of tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV), a whitefly-transmitted geminivirus, was amplified from total DNA extracts of TYLCV-infected tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) by the use of loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP). The procedure was also used to amplify TYLCV DNA from total DNA extracts of individual whiteflies (Bemisia tabaci) that had fed on TYLCV-infected plants. One of the characteristics of the LAMP method is its ability to synthesize an extremely large amount of DNA. Accordingly, a large amount of by-product, pyrophosphate ion, is produced yielding a white precipitate of magnesium pyrophosphate in the reaction mixture. The presence or absence of this white precipitate allows easy detection of amplification of TYLCV genomic DNA without gel electrophoresis.