Rapid Visual Detection of Spiroplasma eriocheiris by Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification with Hydroxynaphthol Blue Dye

In recent years, a new type of Spiroplasma has been found that can cause “tremor disease” of the Chinese mitten crab Eriocheir sinensis. The outbreak of epidemic tremor disease has caused a serious setback in the Chinese mitten crab farming industry, with an incidence rate of more than 30% and mortality rates of 80–100%. Therefore, finding a sensitive method to detect tremor disease in E. sinensis has become a current research focus. In this research, a loop-mediated isothermal amplification detection method coupled with hydroxynaphthol blue dye (LAMP-HNB) was developed and used to rapidly detect Spiroplasma eriocheiris. First, we designed and synthesized specific outer primers, inner primers and loop primers based on the 16S ribosomal RNA gene of S. eriocheiris. Second, the LAMP-HNB detection method for S. eriocheiris was successfully established by screening the primers, adjusting the temperature and time of the reaction, and optimizing the concentrations of Mg²⁺ and dNTPs. In the specific tests, only samples infected with S. eriocheiris showed positive results, and other infections caused by bacteria and parasites tested negative, proving that the test has high specificity. Moreover, the detection limit was 2.5 × 10^–6 ng/µL, indicating high sensitivity. This method for detecting S. eriocheiris provides rapid visual output based on LAMP-HNB detection and is a simple, fast, sensitive, and inexpensive method that can be applied to a wide range of field investigations.