development of a loop-mediated isothermal amplification assay for rapid detection of yersinia enterocolitica via targeting a conserved locus

background and objectives: loop-mediated isothermal amplification is a novel nucleic acid amplification assay providing as a simple diagnostic tool for rapid identification of microbial diseases in developing countries. in this study, a lamp assay was established for yersinia enterocolitica , a leading cause of acute enterocolitis in young children. materials and methods: lamp assay was established with four primers targeting a specific locus for the detection of y. enterocolitica . the assay was conducted at 65°c in thermo block for 90min. the sensitivity of lamp was evaluated in com- parison to conventional pcr using ptz57r containing the target locus. finally, specificity was assessed using dna from common enteropathogenic bacteria. results: results showed that the sensitivity of lamp assay was 44-copy number, which was 10-fold higher than that of pcr. no cross-reactivity was observed when testing against other enteropathogenic pathogens. conclusion: this study showed that lamp assay is an alternative molecular diagnostic tool for infections with y. enteroco- litica . in addition, this method may be useful in diagnosis at field or in laboratories without pcr machine.