Progress of Rapid Detection Technology for Aquatic Microorganisms: A Comprehensive Review

Area of Science:

• Environmental Microbiology
• Aquatic Health Monitoring
• Biotechnology

Background:

• Microbial contamination in aquatic environments threatens aquaculture sustainability, ecological balance, and public health.
• Traditional culture-based detection methods are slow and labor-intensive, hindering rapid on-site monitoring for disease outbreaks and water quality management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review recent advances (2020-2025) in rapid detection technologies for aquatic microorganisms.
• To compare the analytical sensitivity and field deployability of quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and isothermal amplification techniques (LAMP, RPA).
• To evaluate emerging technologies like CRISPR-Cas systems, Lab-on-a-Chip (LOC) platforms, nanopore sequencing, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) for aquatic diagnostics.

Main Methods:

• Review of recent scientific literature (2020-2025) on rapid microbial detection technologies.
• Comparative analysis of nucleic acid amplification strategies, focusing on qPCR, LAMP, and RPA.
• Assessment of next-generation tools including CRISPR-Cas systems, LOC, nanopore sequencing, and AI.

Main Results:

• Advanced molecular methods significantly reduce detection time from days to under an hour.
• CRISPR-Cas systems integrated with LOC platforms achieve attomolar sensitivity.
• Isothermal amplification methods (LAMP, RPA) paired with CRISPR-Cas systems provide an optimal balance of sensitivity, speed, and field deployability for point-of-care aquaculture diagnostics.
• qPCR/dPCR remain essential for quantitative regulatory applications.

Conclusions:

• Isothermal amplification methods (LAMP, RPA) coupled with CRISPR-Cas systems are ideal for point-of-care aquaculture diagnostics.
• qPCR/dPCR are indispensable for quantitative regulatory needs.
• A structured framework is proposed to guide the selection of appropriate detection technologies based on specific requirements.