Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay for rapid detection of viable but non-culturable O1.

, an important waterborne pathogen, is a rod-shaped bacterium that naturally exists in aquatic environments. When conditions are unfavorable for growth, the bacterium can undergo morphological and physiological changes to assume a coccoid morphology. This stage in its life cycle is referred to as viable but non-culturable (VBNC) because VBNC cells do not grow on conventional bacteriological culture media. The current study compared polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) to detect and identify VBNC . Because it is difficult to detect and identify VBNC , the results of the current study are useful in showing that LAMP is more sensitive and rapid than PCR in detecting and identifying non-culturable, coccoid forms of . Furthermore, the LAMP method is effective in detecting and identifying very low numbers of coccoid VBNC in environmental water samples, with the added benefit of being inexpensive to perform.