Abstract
Infection of Zizania latifolia by Ustilago esculenta causes edible stem galls called makomotake. The development of stem galls may be influenced by the fungal colonization level at the seedling stage. To evaluate this possibility, we attempted to develop a real-time loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) method with toothpick sampling for U. esculenta detection, which allows us to examine non-destructively the relationship between fungal levels in seedlings and makomotake production from the same seedlings. Our method detected U. esculenta efficiently in seedlings that eventually produced makomotake, but did not detect it in those that failed to develop stem galls.