Rice serves as the staple food for many Asian countries. However, it faces a significant threat from various Hemiptera species, including Nilaparvata lugens, Sogatella furcifera, Laodelphax striatellus, and Nephotettix cincticeps, which can cause devastating diseases. These species are economically significant pests of rice. Traditional morphology-based methods have proven inefficient in accurately distinguishing these pests at the species level. In this study, we present a successful approach for designing species-specific primers and their application in both general and multiplex PCR as well as loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assays, widely adopted molecular tools for species identification. Each primer set incorporates a species-specific sequence of at least 2 base pairs in both the forward and reverse primers. These primers have demonstrated exceptional diagnostic accuracy in conventional and multiplex PCR. Additionally, our study showcases the high sensitivity of LAMP, successfully achieving positive amplification with genomic DNA quantities ranging from 100pg to 10pg. In summary, these techniques provide an efficient means of diagnosing planthoppers in a large number of field-collected or individual samples.

• Minkyu Jeong(Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Smart Agriculture, Kangwon National University, Korea) Corresponding author
• Jiyeong Shin(Agriculture and Life Science Research Institute, Kangwon National University, Korea)
• Hwayeon Nam(Incheon International Airport Regional Office, Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency)
• Juil Kim(Agriculture and Life Science Research Institute, Kangwon National University, Korea, Department of Plant Medicine, College of Agriculture and Life Science, Kangwon National University, Korea)