Development of primers for loop-mediated isothermal amplification of Philippine white spot syndrome virus isolates

Because there are currently no effective chemicals or drugs to completely treat bacterial andviral diseases, effective means of prevention such as early detection methods are continuously beingexplored and fully exhausted. Over the past few years, we have seen the development of cutting edgetechnologies to specifically and efficiently detect White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV), one of the majorviruses that devastated global shrimp aquaculture. The recent discovery of loop mediated isothermalamplification (LAMP) brought about opportunities for fast diagnosis of a lot of animal diseases includinghumans. Here, the development of alternative LAMP primers specifically for Philippine WSSV isolates wasdiscussed. The sensitivity of the established detection protocol was found to be at 0.3954 pg of shrimpDNA template while exhibiting high specificity to the viral target. In addition, alternative visualizationtechniques and comparison with other detection protocols are also discussed.