Open AccessField-Usable Lateral Flow Immunoassay for the Rapid Detection of White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV)
Author(s) -
Prabir Kumar Kulabhusan,
Jyutika M. Rajwade,
S. Vimal,
G. Taju,
A.S. Sahul Hameed,
Kishore M. Paknikar
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0169012
Subject(s) - white spot syndrome , virology , virus , penaeus monodon , biology , shrimp , fishery
Background White spot disease (WSD), a major threat to sustainable aquaculture worldwide, is caused by White spot syndrome virus (WSSV). The diagnosis of WSD relies heavily on molecular detection of the virus by one-step PCR. These procedures are neither field-usable nor rapid enough considering the speed at which the virus spreads. Thus, development of a rapid, reliable and field-usable diagnostic method for the detection of WSSV infection is imperative to prevent huge economic losses. Methods/Principal Findings Here, we report on the development of a lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) employing gold nanoparticles conjugated to a polyclonal antibody against VP28 (envelope protein of WSSV). The LFIA detected WSSV in ~20 min and showed no cross-reactivity with other shrimp viruses, viz. Monodon Baculovirus (MBV), Hepatopancreatic parvovirus (HPV) and Infectious Hypodermal and Hematopoietic Necrosis virus (IHHNV). The limit of detection (LOD) of the assay, as determined by real-time PCR, was 10 3 copies of WSSV. In a time course infectivity experiment, ~10 4 WSSV particles were injected in Litopenaeus vannamei . The LFIA could rapidly (~ 20 min) detect the virus in different tissues after 3 h (hemolymph), 6 h (gill tissue) and 12 h (head soft tissue, eye stalk, and pleopod) of infection. Based on these findings, a validation study was performed using 75 field samples collected from different geographical locations in India. The LFIA results obtained were compared with the conventional “gold standard test”, viz. one-step PCR. The analysis of results in 2x2 matrix indicated very high sensitivity (100%) and specificity (96.77%) of LFIA. Similarly, Cohen’s kappa coefficient of 0.983 suggested "very good agreement” between the developed LFIA and the conventional one-step PCR. Conclusion The LFIA developed for the rapid detection of WSSV has an excellent potential for use in the field and could prove to be a boon to the aquaculture industry.