# Sensitive and rapid detection of Culex pipiens and Aedes albopictus

## TL;DR

This study developed a fast and sensitive method to detect two mosquito species that spread viruses, which could help in large-scale field screening.

## Contribution

A novel LAMP method for rapid and sensitive detection of Culex pipiens and Aedes albopictus is introduced.

## Key findings

- The LAMP method detected Cx. pipiens at 0.5 pg/μl and Ae. albopictus at 1 pg/μl within 20 minutes.
- LAMP was more sensitive than PCR and showed good specificity and accuracy with field samples.

## Abstract

Culex pipiens and Aedes albopictus are closely related to human life, and transmit a variety of viruses, causing serious harm to human health. Cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) gene has been selected as a marker gene for studying phylogeny and molecular evolution of species and is also an effective molecular marker for studying the evolutionary mechanism and systematic reconstruction of diptera insects.

A loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) method for the rapid and sensitive detection of Cx. pipiens and Ae. albopictus were first described in this study. The experimental results were verified by real-time PCR.

Our study showed the lower limit of sample concentration that can be detected by LAMP method is 0.5 pg/μl within 20 min for Cx. pipiens, and 1 pg/μl within 20 min for Ae. albopictus, which were more sensitive than PCR method. Validation tests with field samples showed LAMP method had good specificity and sensitivity and could identify the target species quickly and accurately.

The LAMP method developed in this study allowed the rapid and sensitive detection of Cx. pipiens and Ae. albopictus, which will be expected to be used for mass screening in batches of the field.