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. 2022 Dec 12;17(12):e0278869. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0278869

Development of a recombinase polymerase amplification assay with lateral flow dipstick (RPA-LFD) for rapid detection of Shigella spp. and enteroinvasive Escherichia coli

Zheng Bian 1, Wenbo Liu 1, Junhua Jin 1, Yanling Hao 2, Linshu Jiang 3, Yuanhong Xie 1, Hongxing Zhang 1,*
Editor: Iddya Karunasagar4
PMCID: PMC9744308  PMID: 36508428

Abstract

Shigella spp. and enteroinvasive Escherichia coli (EIEC) are widely distributed and can cause serious food-borne diseases for humans such as dysentery. Therefore, an efficient detection platform is needed to detect Shigella and EIEC quickly and sensitively. In this study, a method called recombinase polymerase amplification combined with lateral flow dipstick (RPA-LFD) was developed for rapid detection of Shigella and EIEC. RPA primers and LFD detection probes were designed for their shared virulence gene ipaH. Primers and probes were screened, and the primer concentration, and reaction time and temperature were optimized. According to the optimization results, the RPA reaction should be performed at 39°C, and when combined with LFD, it takes less than 25 min for detection with the naked eye. The developed RPA-LFD method specifically targets gene ipaH and has no cross-reactivity with other common food-borne pathogens. In addition, the minimum detection limit of RPA-LFD is 1.29×102 copies/μL. The detection of food sample showed that the RPA-LFD method was also verified for the detection of actual samples.

Introduction

Shigella spp. and enteroinvasive Escherichia coli (EIEC) are highly important human pathogens. More than a million deaths and 160 million cases are attributed to shigellosis every year worldwide. Shigella spp. and EIEC pose a serious threat to many countries, responsible for the majority of cases of endemic bacillary dysentery prevalent in developing countries [13]. Studies have shown that Shigella can contaminate many foods, including vegetables, meat, egg products, and dairy products, and EIEC is also present in a variety of foods [4, 5]. The conventional national standard method is bacterial enrichment and selective cultivation, followed by biochemical and serological methods for detection and typing [6]; however, this process is lengthy and often takes several days, which makes detection efficiency extremely low [7]. Since the invasion-related gene ipaH is present in both Shigella and EIEC, simultaneous detection of both bacteria is possible. Therefore, a fast, specific, and sensitive method is needed to detect ipaH in the food processing and clinical contexts, as it will greatly improve public health.

In recent years, several polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based detection techniques for Shigella have been developed. These methods are more rapid, accurate, specific, sensitive, and stable than the methods described above [8, 9]. However, because they involve bulky equipment, time-consuming thermal cycling steps, and require trained professionals, their usefulness is limited in resource-poor environments [10]. In order to avoid the need for thermal cycling equipment for amplification, isothermal nucleic acid amplification methods have been developed in laboratories. These tests mainly include nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA) [11], strand displacement amplification (SDA) [12], loop-mediated amplification (LAMP) [13], rolling circle amplification (RCA) [14], helicase-dependent amplification (HDA) [15], and recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) [16]. As a new type of isothermal amplification technology, RPA only needs two primers to realize a reaction. The temperature required for the reaction is 37–42°C, i.e., the amplification can occur at room temperature, and detection can be achieved within 20 min.

At present, commonly used RPA product detection methods mainly include agarose gel electrophoresis [16], real-time fluorescence [17], chemical color development [18], electrochemistry [19], and lateral flow test strips (LFD) [20]. LFD is an extremely simple and fast detection method, which usually only takes 2–5 min to produce results; additionally, small size and easy storage make it suitable for rapid on-site detection. In this study, we describe a detection method involving RPA and LFD. We designed specific primers and probes for the ipaH gene for the rapid detection of Shigella and EIEC. The sensitivity and specificity of our detection method were also evaluated. The sensitivity was compared to that of a method involving RPA and agarose gel electrophoresis. At the same time, the application of this method in food sample detection was evaluated.

Materials and methods

Bacterial strains and DNA extraction

The strains used in this study are listed in Table 1. All strains were provided by our laboratory (Beijing Laboratory of Food Quality and Safety, Beijing University of Agriculture, Beijing, China). Shigella flexneri ATCC 12022 was used to determine optimal conditions for RPA-LFD assays. Bacterial genomic DNA was extracted using the TIANamp Bacteria DNA Kit (TIANGEN BIOTECH Co., Ltd, Beijing, China) according the manufacturer’s instructions, and the extracted DNA was stored at -20°C until use.

Table 1. Bacterial strains used in the study.

Strain name Strain code
Shigella flexneri ATCCa 12022
Shigella sonnei ATCC 25931
Shigella boydii ATCC 9207
Shigella dysenteriae ATCC 13313
Salmonella Typhimurium ATCC 50220
Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 19111
Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923
Campylobacter jejuni ATCC 29428
Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 9027
Clostridium perfringens ATCC 13124
Vibrio parahaemolyticus ATCC 17802
Enteroinvasive E. coli ATCC 43893
Enteroinvasive E. coli CICCb 10661
Enteroinvasive E. coli CICCb 10662
Enteroinvasive E. coli CICCc 24188
Enterotoxigenic E. coli ATCC 35401
Enteroaggregative E. coli ATCC 9610
Shiga toxin-producing E. coli ATCC 43895
Enteropathogenic E. coli ATCC 43887
Enterohemorrhagic E. coli ATCC 35150

a ATCC, American Type Culture Collection.

b CICC, China Center of Industrial Culture Collection, Source: Shanghai Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

c Source: Henan Entry Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau.

Design and optimization of RPA primers

RPA primers (S1 Table) specific for the ipaH gene were designed using the TwistAmp® reaction kit manual (TwistDx, Cambridge, UK). The highly conserved nucleotide sequence of ipaH (NCBI reference sequence: NC_004337.2) was selected as the target sequence. According to the principle of RPA primer design, primers were designed and screened using the primer-BLAST function of the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). The primers were screened according to the TwistAmp® Basic Quick Guide using the TwistAmp® Basic kit (TwistDx, Cambridge, UK), in a 50 μL reaction system, including 29.5 μL Buffer, 1 μL of the extracted DNA, 12.2 μL ddH2O, and 0.48 μM of each of the forward and reverse primers. After mixing, 2.5 μL of Mg(Ac)2 (280mM) was added to start the reaction. After the reaction, the solution was purified by the phenol-chloroform method [21]. The purified RPA product was analyzed by 2% agarose gel electrophoresis, then stained with 4S Red Plus Nucleic Acid Stain, and observed with a WD-9413B imaging analyzer (Beijing Liuyi Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Beijing, China).

Design and optimization of RPA-LFD probe

The probes and primers (S2 Table) used in the RPA-LFD reaction were prepared in accordance with the following principles: 5-Carboxyfluorescein (FAM) at the 5’ end of the probe, C3-spacer at the 3’ end, Tetrahydrofuran (THF) in the middle, and biotin at the 5’ end of the reverse primer. All primers and probes were synthesized by Sangon Biotech Co., Ltd (Shanghai, China).

RPA-LFD procedure

The RPA-LFD was performed using the RAA-nfo kit as per the manufacturer’s instructions (Hangzhou ZC Bio-Sci & Tech Co. Ltd, Hangzhou, China), in a 50 μL reaction system, including 37.9 μL A Buffer, 0.024 μM probe, 5 μL of the extracted DNA, 2.5 μL B Buffer, and 0.08 μM of each of the forward and reverse primers. After 30 min of incubation at 39°C, the RPA product was purified and transferred to a clean PCR tube. Next, the binding pad end of the LFD (Universal lateral flow strips; rainbow) (Tiosbio BIOTECH Co., Ltd, Beijing, China) was inserted into the PCR tube, and the result was interpreted once the control line was present.

Optimization of RPA-LFD primer concentration

In order to determine the effect of primer concentration on the reaction, different final concentrations of primers were used for the RPA-LFD reaction: 0.08 μM, 0.16 μM, 0.24 μM, 0.32 μM, and 0.40 μM.

Optimization of RPA-LFD reaction temperature

The reaction temperature was optimized when the primer concentration was optimized as 0.24 μM. The RPA-LFD reaction was performed at six different temperatures: 30°C, 35°C, 37°C, 39°C, 45°C, and 50°C.

Optimization of RPA-LFD reaction time

Next, the reaction time was optimized using 0.24 μM and 39°C as the optimum concentration and temperature, respectively. RPA-LFD reactions were performed for seven different periods: 0 min, 5 min, 10 min, 15 min, 20 min, 25 min, and 30 min.

Specificity test of RPA-LFD

For the specificity test, twenty different pathogenic bacteria were used (Table 1). Bacterial genomic DNA was extracted using the TIANamp Bacteria DNA Kit (TIANGEN BIOTECH Co., Ltd, Beijing, China) according the manufacturer’s instructions, and DNA was quantified to the same concentration using NanoDrop 2000 (Thermo Fisher Scientific Co., Ltd, Shanghai China). They were tested using the developed RPA-LFD assay specific for ipaH gene at the optimal concentration, temperature, and reaction time of 0.24 μM, 39°C, and 20 min, respectively.

Sensitivity determination of RPA-LFD

The recombinant plasmid puc57 containing an ipaH specific fragment was synthesized by Tsingke Biotechnology Co., Ltd.; the plasmid DNA was diluted ten folds in nuclease-free water to obtain a series of concentrations ranging from 1.29×107 copies/μL-1.29×100 copies/μL. The plasmid solution was used as the reaction template for basic RPA and RPA-LFD and stored at -20°C before use. The RPA-LFD reaction was carried out under the previously described optimal conditions.

Detection of Shigella and EIEC in food sample

Sample of cucumber were used for realistic tests of the detection of Shigella and EIEC. The samples were prepared according to Zhang et al. [22]. The cucumber was homogenized after washing with ultrapure water and centrifuged at 10,000 rpm for 10 min to remove solid precipitates. The sample was then filtered using a 0.22 μm filter membrane to ensure sterility. Then, gradient dilutions of Shigella and EIEC were added to cucumber samples to obtain spiked samples with bacterial concentrations of 1.46×102 CFU/mL-1.46×105 CFU/mL and 1.63×102 CFU/mL-1.63×105 CFU/mL. The DNA extraction method of standard samples was the same as above. Then the RPA-LFD method was used to detect the standard samples and the results were compared with the traditional plate counting method.

Results

Optimal RPA primers

The designed RPA primer pairs are listed in S1 Table. According to the reaction results of basic RPA (S1 Fig), ipaH 03 was determined as the best primer pair.

Optimal RPA-LFD probe

The primers and probes designed for ipaH 03 according to the RPA-LFD primer and probe design principles are listed in S2 Table. The ipaH probe 2 was determined to yield false positive results in the RPA-LFD assay so the ipaH probe 1 was selected as the assay probe (S2 Fig).

Optimal primer concentration for RPA-LFD

As shown in Fig 1, the color of the LFD test line was lighter when the final concentrations of the primer were 0.08 μM and 0.16 μM. In comparison, when the final concentrations were 0.24 μM, 0.32 μM, and 0.40 μM, the color of the LFD test line was more obvious, whereas the color of the line did not significantly darken when the concentration exceeded 0.24 μM. Thus, 0.24 μM was ultimately selected as the optimal primer concentration.

Fig 1. Optimization of primer concentration for recombinase polymerase amplification combined with lateral flow test.

Fig 1

A darkened test line indicates a positive result.

Optimal reaction temperature for RPA-LFD

The reaction temperature was optimized using a final primer concentration of 0.24 μM, as shown in Fig 2. When the reaction temperature was 30°C, the color of the test line did not change. As reaction temperature increased, the color of the test line gradually became darker. There was no obvious color change at 35°C or 37°C, and the most intense at 39°C. When the temperature reached 41°C, the color intensity of the test line gradually decreased, and at 50°C, no color change was observed. This phenomenon may be caused by the inactivation of enzymes in the system due to high temperature, so 39°C was determined as the optimal reaction temperature.

Fig 2. Optimization of temperature for recombinase polymerase amplification combined with lateral flow test.

Fig 2

A darkened test line indicates a positive result.

Optimal reaction time for RPA-LFD

Reaction time is also an important factor for RPA-LFD detection. The reaction time was optimized using a final primer concentration of 0.24 μM and reaction temperature of 39°C, as shown in Fig 3. As time progressed, the color intensity of the LFD test line gradually increased. The color intensity was most intense at 20 min; no color intensification was observed after this point. Thus, we determined that 20 min was the optimal reaction time.

Fig 3. Optimization of reaction time for recombinase polymerase amplification combined with lateral flow test.

Fig 3

A darkened test line indicates a positive result.

Specificity of RPA-LFD

A total of 20 species of bacteria were used in the experiment to test the specificity of the RPA-LFD reaction under the optimal experimental conditions (Fig 4). The LFD results showed that, for all strains except Shigella spp. and EIEC, the LFD produced only control lines, which is indicative of a negative result. In contrast, the test line for Shigella and EIEC LFD showed a distinct red color. Therefore, the experimental results show that the developed RPA-LFD test has specificity for ipaH.

Fig 4. Specificity test for recombinase polymerase amplification combined with lateral flow test.

Fig 4

Shigella and EIEC (the target strain) was tested against twelve different bacterial strains. A darkened test line indicates a positive result.

Sensitivity determination of RPA-LFD

Experiments with the recombinant plasmid containing the ipaH gene were performed to evaluate the detection sensitivity of the RPA-LFD method, with RPA as the control. The comparative results of RPA-LFD and RPA with 10-fold-diluted recombinant plasmid ranging from 1.29×107 copies/μL-1.29×100 copies/μL and nuclease-free water as the negative control are shown in Fig 5. The results showed that the lowest detection limit was the same for RPA-LFD and RPA, at 1.29×102 copies/μL. Although the sensitivity of RPA and RPA-LFD were the same, except for the 20 min of RPA reaction, LFD only took 3 min, while AGE took 30 min for detection.

Fig 5. Sensitivity of recombinase polymerase amplification combined with lateral flow test compared to that of recombinase polymerase amplification combined with agarose gel electrophoresis (RPA-AGE).

Fig 5

A standard 10-fold diluted plasmid was used. For RPA-AGE, 1–7 represent the results of the 107−100 copies/μL dilutions, respectively. N: Negative control. A darkened test line indicates a positive result.

Food sample detection

To further investigate the application of RPA-LFD in the detection of Shigella and EIEC in actual sample, cucumber was used as a model and compared with the plate counting method. The analytical results are shown in Table 2. The detection limits of the RPA-LFD method for Shigella and EIEC in cucumber samples were 1.46×103 CFU/mL and 1.63×103 CFU/mL, respectively, which were slightly higher than the plate counting method. The results showed that the proposed RPA-LFD was feasible for the detection of Shigella and EIEC in actual samples.

Table 2. Detection of Shigella and EIEC in food sample.

Cucumber sample Concentration of bacteria (CFU/mL) Our method Plate counting method
Shigella EIEC Shigella EIEC Shigella EIEC
1 1.46×105 1.63×105 + a + + +
2 1.46×104 1.63×104 + + + +
3 1.46×103 1.63×103 + + + +
4 1.46×102 1.63×102 - - + +

a The symbol "+" indicates that the method can detect bacteria; the symbol "-" indicates that the method cannot detect bacteria.

Discussion

In this study, the RPA-LFD method was developed for rapid detection of Shigella and EIEC. In order to ensure the normal progress of the reaction, primers and probes with suitable sequence length and nucleotide composition were designed. The RPA-LFD detection method established in this study has dual specificity, namely primer specificity and probe specificity. The gene sequence encoding the invasive plasmid antigen H (ipaH) has been shown to be present on both Shigella and EIEC invasive plasmids and chromosomes, and is therefore often used as a target gene [23]. Therefore, in this study, we designed four different primer combinations for the ipaH gene and screened the most suitable primers for probe design and the amplification reaction. Designing an optimal probe further ensures the specificity of the RPA-LFD reaction, but the FAM-labeled probe easily combines with the biotin-labeled reverse primer to form a dimer and leads to false positive detection results. Therefore, we designed multiple sets of probes to use with the best primer pair to eliminate false positives and to ensure the accuracy of the results.

In addition to rapidness, specificity, and cost, sensitivity of the detection method was also tested. The detection method established in this study is comparable to other detection methods. For example, Song et al. [24] developed a new LAMP method to detect Shigella and enteroinvasive Escherichia coli, and the detection limit was 8 CFU per reaction. Liew et al. also used this method to detect with a detection limit of 5.9×105 CFU/mL [25]. Chen et al. developed a PCR and fluorescent microsphere (FM) immunoassay based on magnetic purification [26]. A chromatography test strip (ICTS) combined method has been used to detect Shigella, and the detection limit was 2.5×10−7 ng/μL. Lukman et al. used a fast gold nanoparticle lateral flow analyzer to detect Shigella and Salmonella with a detection limit of 3.0×106 CFU/mL [27]. The detection limit in this study is significantly higher than that of the PCR detection method developed by Chandra et al., Zhang et al., and Barletta et al. [2830].

In addition, we compared the sensitivities of RPA and RPA-LFD methods. The detection limits of both methods are similar at 102 copies/μL. However, the entire RPA-LFD reaction only takes 25–30 min at 39°C for detection and does not require expensive or large instruments. In contrast, the RPA reaction requires agarose gel electrophoresis, which not only takes longer, but also requires bulky instruments, such as gel imagers. The RPA-LFD method established in this study is also comparable to other RPA-LFD used for the detection of pathogenic bacteria. The detection limit in this study is comparable to that of the RPA-LFD method developed by Hu et al. for detecting Salmonella typhimurium in milk and of the RPA-LFD method developed by Gao et al. for detecting Salmonella in shellfish [31, 32]. Furthermore, RPA-LFD only requires a constant temperature environment and the test LFD can be stored for several days. We also optimized the primer concentration for this reaction. So far, few studies have optimized the primer concentration for the RPA-LFD reaction, despite the fact that it has a direct effect on LFD results and that optimization can make the experiment more economical. At the same time, it is not difficult to find that the efficiency of DNA extraction has a certain impact on the actual detection through the actual sample detection. Therefore, the improvement of DNA extraction method is expected to further improve the sensitivity of RPA-LFD.

Nevertheless, the RPA-LFD method has some limitations. For example, the nonspecific amplification of primers and probes means that many repeated experiments may be needed to avoid false positive results. In addition, the popularity of the technology is not high, and thus LFD test strips are more expensive than AGE testing. Moreover, the basic LFD method cannot detect two or more nucleotide amplifications simultaneously in one RPA system, which makes the high-throughput detection of food-borne pathogens difficult. In order to solve this problem, RPA should be combined with multiple lateral flow test strips in future studies to achieve high-throughput detection. Furthermore, obtaining a positive result using this method is subjective, as it is qualitative and judged by the naked eye. Differences in eyesight and judgment between individuals may make it difficult to obtain accurate experimental results, and thus this methodology may need to be used in conjunction with an LFD reading instrument.

Supporting information

S1 Fig. Screening of primers for RPA reaction by agarose gel electrophoresis.

M: DNA marker. N: Negative control. 1–4: ipaH 01, ipaH 02, ipaH 03, ipaH 04. Under the same reaction conditions, the results of 3 agarose gel electrophoresis are more obvious.

(TIF)

S2 Fig. Screening of recombinase polymerase amplification combined with lateral flow test probes.

1: ipaH probe1, 2: ipaH probe2, N1: ipaH probe1 negative control, N2: ipaH probe2 negative control. Probe 1 showed a positive result. In negative control 1, only the control line changed color, indicating it was a valid control. Probe 2 produced very obvious false positive results.

(TIF)

S1 Table. Primers for basic recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) of ipaH.

(DOCX)

S2 Table. Primers and probes used for recombinase polymerase amplification combined with lateral flow test for the detection of ipaH.

(DOCX)

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Editage (www.editage.cn) for English language editing.

Data Availability

All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting information files.

Funding Statement

We thank the Research project of Beijing Municipal Commission of Education, this work was supported by the Research project of Beijing Municipal Commission of Education (KM201810020016). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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Decision Letter 0

Iddya Karunasagar

30 Sep 2022

PONE-D-22-22928Development of a recombinase polymerase amplification assay with lateral flow dipstick (RPA-LFD) for rapid detection of the bacterium Shigellaspp. and enteroinvasive  Escherichia coliPLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Zhang,

Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process.

Please provide clarifications and revise addressing reviwer comments. 

Please submit your revised manuscript by Nov 14 2022 11:59PM. If you will need more time than this to complete your revisions, please reply to this message or contact the journal office at plosone@plos.org. When you're ready to submit your revision, log on to https://www.editorialmanager.com/pone/ and select the 'Submissions Needing Revision' folder to locate your manuscript file.

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We look forward to receiving your revised manuscript.

Kind regards,

Iddya Karunasagar

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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[Note: HTML markup is below. Please do not edit.]

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Partly

**********

2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: N/A

Reviewer #2: N/A

**********

3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

5. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: The authors have developed an RPA-LFD for rapid detection of Shigella spp. and enteroinvasive Escherichia coli using bacterial pure culture.

The optimized assay cannot differentiate Shigella spp. and enteroinvasive Escherichia coli, and they cross-reacted with each other; Hence the title should be revised accordingly. Also, this can be discussed in the discussion section.

What was the rationale for using the ipaH gene?

Line: 81-82: mention the details of the laboratory from where bacterial strains were procured

Table 1: typhimurium can be written as “Typhimurium” and non-italicize

Line 101: mention a reference for this “phenol-chloroform method”

Reviewer #2: PONE-D-22-22928

Development of a recombinase polymerase amplification assay with lateral flow dipstick (RPA-LFD) for rapid detection of the bacterium Shigella spp. and enteroinvasive Escherichia coli

This study developed a recombinase polymerase-based assay followed by lateral flow dipstick (RPA-LFD) detection of Shigella spp. and the enteroinvasive E. coli. The ipaH gene common to both the organisms was used as the target for RPA. This naked eye detection method is rapid and specific to the target organisms.

Major comments:

Although the study successfully developed RPA-LFD method, its utility has not been demonstrated beyond identifying pure cultures of bacteria. Precisely, where this assay can be employed? For clinical specimens, foods or water?. The performance of the assay can vary in different matrices. In this context, although the study has accomplished developing a RPA-LFD method for Shigella and EIEC, it has not demonstrated it applicability to any sample type. Apart from the sample matrix, the DNA extraction method also has bearing on the sensitivity of the assay.

The specificity of the assay can also vary depending on the background microbiota, which again can vary across the the sample types. It is necessary that the specificity of the assay is established using the natural samples.

The sensitivity of RPA-LFT was determined using the plasmid containing cloned fragment of ipaH gene. Ideally, this should have been done using 10-fold serially diluted bacterial cultures (Shigella and EIEC), followed by DNA extraction.

Minor comments

Title: Consider removing “the bacterium” from the title

L40: “pathogens”.

L45-46: Please provide references to this statement.

L50: Please replace “abundant” with “present”

Table 1: Please expand CICC in the foot note, and the source/origin

L95: Please clarify what did you mean by “NCBI was used to design primers”

L99-100: “After mixing, 2.5 µL of Mg(Ac)2 (280mM) was added to start the reaction”.

L109: Please delete “Most of..”

L178-180: Please rephrase this sentence to convey the correct interpretation

**********

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Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: No

**********

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Attachment

Submitted filename: PONE-D-22-22928_review.docx

PLoS One. 2022 Dec 12;17(12):e0278869. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0278869.r002

Author response to Decision Letter 0


18 Oct 2022

Reviewer: 1

Q1: The optimized assay cannot differentiate Shigella spp. and enteroinvasive Escherichia coli, and they cross-reacted with each other; Hence the title should be revised accordingly. Also, this can be discused in the discussion section.

A: The title has been modified according to your suggestions and discussed in the discussion.

Q2: What was the rationale for using the ipaH gene?

A: We focused on foodborne pathogens that can produce toxins in food, and the ipaH gene is one of the major genes encoding virulence factors in Shigella and enteroinvasive Escherichia coli. In addition, Hartman et al. [1] found that ipaH gene has multi-copy nature and exists on both chromosome and invasion plasmid, which makes it superior to other single-copy virulence genes. At the same time, Lampel and Orlandi [2] reported that storage before testing would lead to the loss of invasive plasmids. Molecular assays designed to detect single-copy genes on invasive plasmids may fail, so molecular assays targeting ipaH genes have a greater chance to detect invasive plasmids or chromosomes.

Q3: Line: 81-82: mention the details of the laboratory from where bacterial strains were procured

A: The manuscript has been revised according to your suggestion.

Q4: Table 1: typhimurium can be written as “Typhimurium” and non-italicize

A: The manuscript has been revised according to your suggestion.

Q5: Line 101: mention a reference for this “phenol-chloroform method”

A: The manuscript has been revised according to your suggestion.

Reviewer: 2

Q1: The specificity of the assay can also vary depending on the background microbiota, which again can vary across the sample types. It is necessary that the specificity of the assay is established using the natural samples.

A: The actual sample testing experiment has been supplemented according to your suggestion.

Q2: The sensitivity of RPA-LFD was determined using the plasmid containing cloned fragment of ipaH gene. Ideally, this should have been done using 10-fold serially diluted bacterial cultures (Shigella and EIEC), followed by DNA extraction.

A: Because the extraction method of DNA sample will also affect the sensitivity of detection, we use standard plasmid for 10-fold gradient dilution in order to pursue the accuracy of detection limit. In the actual sample inspection, in order to achieve the universality of detection, use 10-fold of continuously diluted bacterial cultures (Shigella and EIEC) according to your recommendations, and then extract DNA.

Q3: Consider removing “the bacterium” from the title

A: The title has been revised according to your suggestions

Q4: L40: “pathogens”.

A: The manuscript has been revised according to your suggestion.

Q5: L45-46: Please provide references to this statement.

A: The manuscript has been revised according to your suggestion.

Q6: L50: Please replace “abundant” with “present”

A: The manuscript has been revised according to your suggestion.

Q7: Table 1: Please expand CICC in the foot note, and the source/origin

A: The manuscript has been revised according to your suggestion.

Q8: L95: Please clarify what did you mean by “NCBI was used to design primers”

A: Primers were designed and screened using the primer-BLAST function of the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI).And the manuscript has been revised.

Q9: L99-100: “After mixing, 2.5 µL of Mg(Ac)2 (280mM) was added to start the reaction”.

A: The manuscript has been revised according to your suggestion.

Q10: L109: Please delete “Most of..”

A: The manuscript has been revised according to your suggestion.

Q11: L178-180: Please rephrase this sentence to convey the correct interpretation

A: The manuscript has been revised according to your suggestion.

Reference

1. Hartman, A. B., M. Venkatesan, E. V. Oaks, and J. M. Buysee. Sequence and molecular characterization of multicopy invasion plasmid antigen, ipaH of Shigella flexneri. J. Bacteriol. 1990; 172: 1905–1915.

2. Lampel, K. A., and P. A. Orlandi. Polymerase chain reaction detection of invasive Shigella and Salmonella enterica in food. Methods Mol. Biol. 2002; 179: 235–244.

Attachment

Submitted filename: Response to Reviewers.doc

Decision Letter 1

Iddya Karunasagar

18 Nov 2022

PONE-D-22-22928R1Development of a recombinase polymerase amplification assay with lateral flow dipstick (RPA-LFD) for rapid detection of the ipaH gene from Shigellaspp. and enteroinvasive  Escherichia coliPLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Zhang,

Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process.

==============================

Please see the comment on title modification. 

==============================

Please submit your revised manuscript by Jan 02 2023 11:59PM. If you will need more time than this to complete your revisions, please reply to this message or contact the journal office at plosone@plos.org. When you're ready to submit your revision, log on to https://www.editorialmanager.com/pone/ and select the 'Submissions Needing Revision' folder to locate your manuscript file.

Please include the following items when submitting your revised manuscript:

  • A rebuttal letter that responds to each point raised by the academic editor and reviewer(s). You should upload this letter as a separate file labeled 'Response to Reviewers'.

  • A marked-up copy of your manuscript that highlights changes made to the original version. You should upload this as a separate file labeled 'Revised Manuscript with Track Changes'.

  • An unmarked version of your revised paper without tracked changes. You should upload this as a separate file labeled 'Manuscript'.

If you would like to make changes to your financial disclosure, please include your updated statement in your cover letter. Guidelines for resubmitting your figure files are available below the reviewer comments at the end of this letter.

If applicable, we recommend that you deposit your laboratory protocols in protocols.io to enhance the reproducibility of your results. Protocols.io assigns your protocol its own identifier (DOI) so that it can be cited independently in the future. For instructions see: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/submission-guidelines#loc-laboratory-protocols. Additionally, PLOS ONE offers an option for publishing peer-reviewed Lab Protocol articles, which describe protocols hosted on protocols.io. Read more information on sharing protocols at https://plos.org/protocols?utm_medium=editorial-email&utm_source=authorletters&utm_campaign=protocols.

We look forward to receiving your revised manuscript.

Kind regards,

Iddya Karunasagar

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Journal Requirements:

Please review your reference list to ensure that it is complete and correct. If you have cited papers that have been retracted, please include the rationale for doing so in the manuscript text, or remove these references and replace them with relevant current references. Any changes to the reference list should be mentioned in the rebuttal letter that accompanies your revised manuscript. If you need to cite a retracted article, indicate the article’s retracted status in the References list and also include a citation and full reference for the retraction notice.

Additional Editor Comments:

Please see the reviewers comment regarding modification of title to better reflect the contents of the paper.

[Note: HTML markup is below. Please do not edit.]

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.

Reviewer #1: All comments have been addressed

Reviewer #2: All comments have been addressed

**********

2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: N/A

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

6. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: (No Response)

Reviewer #2: The authors have modified the manuscript sufficiently as suggested in my first review.

However, the title might require modification. It says "....... detection of the ipaH gene from Shigella spp. and

enteroinvasive Escherichia coli". Here you goal is not just to detect ipaH gene. Instead, you are using this gene as a marker to detect two species of bacteria. Therefore, the title can be "Development of a recombinase polymerase amplification assay with lateral flow dipstick (RPA-LFD) for rapid detection of Shigella spp. and

4 enteroinvasive Escherichia coli

**********

7. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy.

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: No

**********

[NOTE: If reviewer comments were submitted as an attachment file, they will be attached to this email and accessible via the submission site. Please log into your account, locate the manuscript record, and check for the action link "View Attachments". If this link does not appear, there are no attachment files.]

While revising your submission, please upload your figure files to the Preflight Analysis and Conversion Engine (PACE) digital diagnostic tool, https://pacev2.apexcovantage.com/. PACE helps ensure that figures meet PLOS requirements. To use PACE, you must first register as a user. Registration is free. Then, login and navigate to the UPLOAD tab, where you will find detailed instructions on how to use the tool. If you encounter any issues or have any questions when using PACE, please email PLOS at figures@plos.org. Please note that Supporting Information files do not need this step.

PLoS One. 2022 Dec 12;17(12):e0278869. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0278869.r004

Author response to Decision Letter 1


19 Nov 2022

Dear reviewer:

Thank you very much for your comments. We have revised our manuscript according to your suggestions. And the detail information is following.

Sincerely,

Yuanhong Xie

Reviewer: 2

Q1: However, the title might require modification. It says "....... detection of the ipaH gene from Shigella spp. and enteroinvasive Escherichia coli". Here you goal is not just to detect ipaH gene. Instead, you are using this gene as a marker to detect two species of bacteria. Therefore, the title can be "Development of a recombinase polymerase amplification assay with lateral flow dipstick (RPA-LFD) for rapid detection of Shigella spp. and enteroinvasive Escherichia coli

A: The title has been modified according to your suggestions.

Attachment

Submitted filename: Response to Reviewers.doc

Decision Letter 2

Iddya Karunasagar

28 Nov 2022

Development of a recombinase polymerase amplification assay with lateral flow dipstick (RPA-LFD) for rapid detection of Shigellaspp. and enteroinvasive  Escherichia coli

PONE-D-22-22928R2

Dear Dr. Zhang,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

Within one week, you’ll receive an e-mail detailing the required amendments. When these have been addressed, you’ll receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will be scheduled for publication.

An invoice for payment will follow shortly after the formal acceptance. To ensure an efficient process, please log into Editorial Manager at http://www.editorialmanager.com/pone/, click the 'Update My Information' link at the top of the page, and double check that your user information is up-to-date. If you have any billing related questions, please contact our Author Billing department directly at authorbilling@plos.org.

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Kind regards,

Iddya Karunasagar

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

All reviewer comments have been addressed.

Reviewers' comments:

Acceptance letter

Iddya Karunasagar

1 Dec 2022

PONE-D-22-22928R2

Development of a recombinase polymerase amplification assay with lateral flow dipstick (RPA-LFD) for rapid detection of Shigella spp. and enteroinvasive Escherichia coli

Dear Dr. Zhang:

I'm pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been deemed suitable for publication in PLOS ONE. Congratulations! Your manuscript is now with our production department.

If your institution or institutions have a press office, please let them know about your upcoming paper now to help maximize its impact. If they'll be preparing press materials, please inform our press team within the next 48 hours. Your manuscript will remain under strict press embargo until 2 pm Eastern Time on the date of publication. For more information please contact onepress@plos.org.

If we can help with anything else, please email us at plosone@plos.org.

Thank you for submitting your work to PLOS ONE and supporting open access.

Kind regards,

PLOS ONE Editorial Office Staff

on behalf of

Dr. Iddya Karunasagar

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Associated Data

    This section collects any data citations, data availability statements, or supplementary materials included in this article.

    Supplementary Materials

    S1 Fig. Screening of primers for RPA reaction by agarose gel electrophoresis.

    M: DNA marker. N: Negative control. 1–4: ipaH 01, ipaH 02, ipaH 03, ipaH 04. Under the same reaction conditions, the results of 3 agarose gel electrophoresis are more obvious.

    (TIF)

    S2 Fig. Screening of recombinase polymerase amplification combined with lateral flow test probes.

    1: ipaH probe1, 2: ipaH probe2, N1: ipaH probe1 negative control, N2: ipaH probe2 negative control. Probe 1 showed a positive result. In negative control 1, only the control line changed color, indicating it was a valid control. Probe 2 produced very obvious false positive results.

    (TIF)

    S1 Table. Primers for basic recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) of ipaH.

    (DOCX)

    S2 Table. Primers and probes used for recombinase polymerase amplification combined with lateral flow test for the detection of ipaH.

    (DOCX)

    Attachment

    Submitted filename: PONE-D-22-22928_review.docx

    Attachment

    Submitted filename: Response to Reviewers.doc

    Attachment

    Submitted filename: Response to Reviewers.doc

    Data Availability Statement

    All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting information files.


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