Rapid and sensitive detection of Lily symptomless virus by reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification

•We developed a sensitive RT-LAMP assay for rapid detection of LSV.•The RT-LAMP procedure could be completed within 30 min.•The detection limit for RT-LAMP was 10-fold greater than that for conventional RT-PCR.

Lily symptomless virus (LSV) is one of the most prevalent viruses that infect lily plants worldwide. A rapid and sensitive reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) assay was developed for detection of LSV, using two primer pairs that specifically amplified the conserved sequence of LSV coat protein. The optimum reaction conditions were as follows: 4 mM MgCl2 and 0.8 M betaine with incubation at 64 °C for 30 min. The limit of detection of LSV from infected lily leaves was 10-fold higher for RT-LAMP than for conventional RT-PCR. Moreover, RT-LAMP detected LSV in not only symptomatic, but also in symptomless tissues of infected plants. These findings indicate that our RT-LAMP method for LSV can serve as a low-cost, simple, and rapid alternative to conventional detection assays.