Detection of equine rotavirus by reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP)

Reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) was applied to detection of equine rotavirus. Because equine rotavirus of the single P genotype, P[12], is predominant in the equine population worldwide, an RT-LAMP primer set was designed to target the genotype P[12] sequence and thus detect equine rotavirus. The detection limit of the RT-LAMP assay was 10(3) copies of viral RNA, whereas that of semi-nested RT-PCR for genotype P[12] was 10(5) copies. The RT-LAMP assay specifically amplified genotype P[12] but did not amplify the other P genotype strains. The RT-LAMP assay did not amplify any pathogens related to equine intestinal disorder other than rotavirus. Using 96 diarrheal stools, the RT-LAMP assay detected equine rotavirus in 58 samples, whereas semi-nested RT-PCR only detected equine rotavirus in 25 samples. The RT-LAMP assay did not detect equine rotavirus with fecal samples collected from nine healthy foals. These results indicate that the RT-LAMP assay is specific for equine rotavirus and more sensitive than semi-nested RT-PCR. Because it is easy to manipulate without the need for a thermal cycler or gel electrophoresis, the RT-LAMP assay should be applicable to diagnosis of equine rotavirus infections in diagnostic laboratories.