20Manipulation of natural mosquito populations using the endosymbiotic bacteria Wolbachia is being 21 investigated as a novel strategy to reduce the burden of mosquito-borne viruses. To evaluate the 22 efficacy of these interventions, it will be critical to determine Wolbachia infection frequencies in 23Aedes aegypti mosquito populations. However, current diagnostic tools are not well-suited to fit this 24 need. Morphological methods cannot identify Wolbachia, immunoassays often suffer from low 25 sensitivity and poor throughput, while PCR and spectroscopy require complex instruments and 26 technical expertise, which restrict their use to centralized laboratories. To address this unmet need, 27we have used loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) and oligonucleotide strand 28 displacement (OSD) probes to create a one-pot sample-to-answer nucleic acid diagnostic platform 29 for vector and symbiont surveillance. LAMP-OSD assays can directly amplify target nucleic acids 30 from macerated mosquitoes without requiring nucleic acid purification and yield specific single 31 endpoint yes/no fluorescence signals that are observable to eye or by cellphone camera. We 32 demonstrate cellphone-imaged LAMP-OSD tests for two targets, the Aedes aegypti cytochrome 33 oxidase I (coi) gene and the Wolbachia surface protein (wsp) gene, and show a limit of detection 34 of 4 and 40 target DNA copies, respectively. In a blinded test of 90 field-caught mosquitoes, the 35 coi LAMP-OSD assay demonstrated 98% specificity and 97% sensitivity in identifying Ae. aegypti 36 mosquitoes even after 3 weeks of storage without desiccant at 37 °C. Similarly, the wsp LAMP-37 OSD assay readily identified the wAlbB Wolbachia strain in field-collected Aedes albopictus 38 mosquitoes without generating any false positive signals. Modest technology requirements, 39 minimal execution steps, simple binary readout, and robust accuracy make the LAMP-OSD-to-40 cellphone assay platform well suited for field vector surveillance in austere or resource-limited 41 conditions. 42 43 All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.
Author summary 44Mosquitoes spread many human pathogens and novel approaches are required to reduce the 45 burden of mosquito-borne disease. One promising approach is transferring Wolbachia into 46Aedes aegypti mosquitoes where it blocks transmission of arboviruses like dengue, Zika and 47Yellow fever viruses and spreads through mosquito populations. For effective evaluation of this 48 approach, regular surveillance of Wolbachia infections in Ae. aegypti is required, but current 49 diagnostic tools are not well suited to support these critical surveillance needs. To fill this need 50we developed a simple, robust and inexpensive assay to identify Ae. aegypti mosquitoes and 51Wolbachia using our unique one-pot assay platform, LAMP-OSD, which uses loop-mediated 52 isothermal amplification to amplify nucleic acid targets at a single temperature. Unlike other 53 LAMP-based tests, our assays assure accuracy by coupling amplification...