Wheat yellow mosaic is one of the most devastating soil-borne diseases of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). It was first reported in Japan in the 1920s and China in the 1960s [1, 2], and then spread continually in Japan and China [3, 4]. According to the statistical data, the disease area was more than 666,700 hectares in the 1990s, the yield loss was estimated to range between 20-40% and could be up to 70-80% during a serious year, even 100%.
Wheat yellow mosaic virus (WYMV), the causal agent of wheat yellow mosaic, belongs to the genus Bymovirus within the family Potyviridae. It is a soil-borne pathogen and is transmitted by the fungus-like organism Polymyxa graminis . The genome of WYMV is comprised of two (+) single-stranded RNAs, RNA1 encodes for coat protein (CP) and six others: P3, 7 K, nuclear inclusion protein a (NIa), nuclear inclusion protein b (NIb), cytoplasmic inclusion protein (CI), 14 K; RNA2 encodes for a polyprotein that contains 28-kDa and 72-kDa proteins [6, 7].
Concerning virus detection, several methods are used commonly to detect WYMV. ELISA is a reliable method for detecting WYMV and suitable for high-throughput samples [8–10]; RT-PCR is the most conventional method to detect RNA virus [11, 12] and western blotting detects the target protein for further confirmation [13–16]. However, the sensitivity of ELISA might not be sufficiently high to detect low concentrations of WYMV, and virus-specific antiserum is required. WYMV can serologically cross-react with wheat spindle streak mosaic virus , and RT-PCR is not perfect either.
Novel nucleic acid amplification methods, loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) for DNA and RT-LAMP for RNA, have been developed . The high specificity and sensitivity, rapid execution, performance under isothermal condition, time-saving, easy observation of by-products , and low cost make RT-LAMP unrivaled among diagnostic techniques. It is easy and simple to perform only with four appropriate primers, a reverse transcriptase for RNA template, a DNA polymerase and a water bath or heat block for reaction. Therefore, in recent years, many pathogenic viruses have been detected by these methods, including human [20–24], animal  and plant [26–32] viruses.
In the present study, the RT-LAMP method was used successfully for detection of WYMV for the first time. This method could result in more accurate diagnosis for monitoring WYMV.