Loop-mediated isothermal amplification for rapid detection of Bacillus anthracis spores.

A loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay system was employed for detecting Bacillus anthracis spores in pure cultures as well as in various simulated powder samples. The specificity of the designed LAMP primer sets was validated by assaying 13 B. anthracis strains and 33 non-B. anthracis species. The detection limits of the LAMP assay were 10 spores/tube for pure cultures and 100 spores/2 mg powder for simulated powder samples. The results show that the LAMP protocol is a promising method for detecting B. anthracis.