Affordable test for shrimp disease
A highly sensitive tool that detects a disease that affects shrimps has been developed at the University of Santo Tomas (UST).
The technology helps detect Acute Hepatopancreatic Necrosis Disease (AHPND) or Early Mortality Syndrome in shrimp. It is 10 times more highly sensitive compared with Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), the convention detection tool.
PCR is used in molecular biology to magnify into thousands and even millions of copies a particular DNA sequence. Because it is a relatively easy, comparatively cheap and reliable way to repeatedly replicate a segment of DNA, PCR is probably the most widely used technique in molecular biology and biomedical research, in clinical as well as research laboratories.
AHPND is caused by Vibrio parahaemolyticus, a pervasive bacterium that thrives in marine waters. This disease causes lethargy, an empty stomach, a pale hepatopancreas and an empty midgut. AHPND has caused major economic loss in cultured shrimp production in China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Mexico and the Philippines.
In the Philippines, the disease is detected in Bataan, Bulacan, Cebu, Bohol, Sarangani and General Santos. In one site in Bataan, 73 percent of farms were found positive with AHPND.
The tool, called the Juan Amplification (JAmp) Detection Kit, is easy to set up and use as well as cost-efficient as it only costs P300 per test, said Dr. Mary Beth Maningas, the lead researcher at the Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Laboratory, UST Thomas Aquinas Research Complex.
The JAmp kit detected the AHPND-causing bacteria, V. parahaemolyticus at 10-2 dilution, while PCR only detected the bacteria until 10-1 dilution.
It is based on Loop Mediated Isothermal Amplification, a diagnostics assay that detects the White Spot Syndrome Virus using sequence-specific amplification at one temperature condition.
It is simple and cost-effective, suitable for on-site applications and able to yield results within an hour. This is a great advantage over the other detection methods available in the market which could take hours or even days if the diagnosis is conducted in regional testing centers in urban areas.
The portable JAmp Detection Kit could be used on-site and is easy to operate.
The technology addresses the need of Filipino shrimp farmers for a diagnostic testing kit that provides results instantly as outsourced diagnostics are not time-efficient. Moreover, available test products are expensive, have low accuracy and are difficult to use.
A patent application for the kit filed by the UST Innovation and Technology Support Office is pending.
The project – Pathobiology and Development of Molecular Detection Kit for EMS/AHPND causing bacteria – is funded by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development, Department of Science and Technology. - P. Icamina
The technology helps detect Acute Hepatopancreatic Necrosis Disease (AHPND) or Early Mortality Syndrome in shrimp. It is 10 times more highly sensitive compared with Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), the convention detection tool.
PCR is used in molecular biology to magnify into thousands and even millions of copies a particular DNA sequence. Because it is a relatively easy, comparatively cheap and reliable way to repeatedly replicate a segment of DNA, PCR is probably the most widely used technique in molecular biology and biomedical research, in clinical as well as research laboratories.
AHPND is caused by Vibrio parahaemolyticus, a pervasive bacterium that thrives in marine waters. This disease causes lethargy, an empty stomach, a pale hepatopancreas and an empty midgut. AHPND has caused major economic loss in cultured shrimp production in China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Mexico and the Philippines.
In the Philippines, the disease is detected in Bataan, Bulacan, Cebu, Bohol, Sarangani and General Santos. In one site in Bataan, 73 percent of farms were found positive with AHPND.
The tool, called the Juan Amplification (JAmp) Detection Kit, is easy to set up and use as well as cost-efficient as it only costs P300 per test, said Dr. Mary Beth Maningas, the lead researcher at the Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Laboratory, UST Thomas Aquinas Research Complex.
The JAmp kit detected the AHPND-causing bacteria, V. parahaemolyticus at 10-2 dilution, while PCR only detected the bacteria until 10-1 dilution.
It is based on Loop Mediated Isothermal Amplification, a diagnostics assay that detects the White Spot Syndrome Virus using sequence-specific amplification at one temperature condition.
It is simple and cost-effective, suitable for on-site applications and able to yield results within an hour. This is a great advantage over the other detection methods available in the market which could take hours or even days if the diagnosis is conducted in regional testing centers in urban areas.
The portable JAmp Detection Kit could be used on-site and is easy to operate.
The technology addresses the need of Filipino shrimp farmers for a diagnostic testing kit that provides results instantly as outsourced diagnostics are not time-efficient. Moreover, available test products are expensive, have low accuracy and are difficult to use.
A patent application for the kit filed by the UST Innovation and Technology Support Office is pending.
The project – Pathobiology and Development of Molecular Detection Kit for EMS/AHPND causing bacteria – is funded by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development, Department of Science and Technology. - P. Icamina
