Iridoviruses are large, icosahedral shaped, enveloped DNA viruses (~120–200 nm in diameter) that replicate in the cytoplasm of infected cells. Iridoviruses cause systemic disease and are associated with high mortality among thirty-five over marine and freshwater fish species. Current methods of detection takes long turn-around time and laboratory dependent.
The team has developed a rapid and sensitive electrochemical DNA biosensor for fish iridovirus detection that could be applied to both indoor and outdoor settings. In brief, semi-concentrated viruses from tissue homogenate were lysed using ultrasonication method and subjected to recombinase polymerase assay at 39oC for 18min. The amplified DNA was purified by affinity displacement method. The eluted sample was applied onto screen printed electrode substrate to initiate the reaction. The sample was read after 1 min using amperometric measurement and concentration of DNA was determined.
The method was found to be rapid with <20min of analysis time and sensitive. Operational advantages include user friendliness with less logistical load, fieldable, can be tailored to detect wide range of pathogens