To assess the efficiency of amplification, an alternative analysis to PCR amplification efficiency ( Li et al., 2008) was used. Because LAMP amplification PF-02341066 manufacturer is a continuous process that results in a growing concatenation of amplicons rather than discrete individual copies over

well-defined control cycles as in qPCR, we instead estimated a “doubling time” τ for the LAMP process based on observed tp. This analysis assumed that reactions resulted in exponential rates of DNA polymerization, and that tp corresponded to the time when a constant repeatable threshold quantity (K) of double stranded DNA was produced. Mathematically, equation(1) K=ci2tpτwhere ci is the initial template DNA quantity. Through a simple manipulation of Equation (1), the doubling time can be inferred from the relationship between tp and ci: equation(2) tp=τlog(2)[log(K)−log(ci)] The doubling time τ then can be estimated as the product of −log(2) and the slope of tp vs log(ci). An amplicon of 137 bp and multimers of this product were synthesized in the LAMP check details reaction (Supplementary Fig. 1). The LAMP reactions

were scored based on the time of positivity (tp). Most positive samples showed an amplification plot in less than 10 min in the LAMP assay. We use a tp value of 15 as the cut-off to determine positive or negative samples. We compared the standard qPCR assay (conducted routinely in many labs for the 16S rDNA region) with the LAMP method (for the phage region) using aliquots of the same extractions from a batch of known Las-positive

D. citri. Ten-fold serial dilutions (10−1 to 10−6) of the plasmid DNA were utilized for qPCR and LAMP analysis. The qPCR cycle threshold values (Ct) of the first three dilutions were below 33 and these samples were STK38 considered as positive for Las; dilution no. 4 had a Ct of 36 which is generally regarded as negative. In the LAMP assay, the first 5 dilutions had a tp value of 4–8.5 indicating that they were positive ( Fig. 2). We pooled Las-positive psyllids with Las-negative psyllids to test if the LAMP method can detect single positive insects from a pool of negative psyllids. Las positive psyllids obtained from the Las-positive D. citri colony (from Fort Pierce, FL) were first evaluated by testing single psyllids by qPCR for 16S rDNA fragment to estimate the percentage of positives. About 29% of the psyllids from this particular batch were positive for Las (data not shown). Single insects from the Las-positive batch of psyllids (from Fort Pierce) were pooled with 0, 4, 9 and 19 psyllids obtained from the UCR quarantine facility (Las-free psyllids). The tp values of the samples in LAMP assay vary depending on the Las titer in the infected psyllid.