Smorodintsev Research Institute of Influenza, 197376 Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Department of Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology, First Pavlov State Medical University, 197022 Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Dec 18;23(24):16153. doi: 10.3390/ijms232416153.
Whole genome sequencing (WGS) is considered the best instrument to track both virus evolution and the spread of new, emerging variants. However, WGS still does not allow the analysis of as many samples as qPCR does. Epidemiological and clinical research needs to develop advanced qPCR methods to identify emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2 while collecting data on their spreading in a faster and cheaper way, which is critical for introducing public health measures. This study aimed at designing a one-step RT-qPCR assay for multiplex detection of the Omicron lineage and providing additional data on its subvariants in clinical samples. The RT-qPCR assay demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity on multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants and was cross-validated by WGS.
全基因组测序(WGS)被认为是追踪病毒进化和新出现变异株传播的最佳工具。然而,WGS 仍然不能像 qPCR 那样分析那么多的样本。流行病学和临床研究需要开发先进的 qPCR 方法来识别 SARS-CoV-2 的新兴变异株,同时以更快和更便宜的方式收集其传播数据,这对于引入公共卫生措施至关重要。本研究旨在设计一种一步法 RT-qPCR 检测方法,用于多重检测奥密克戎谱系,并提供临床样本中其亚变异株的额外数据。该 RT-qPCR 检测方法在多种 SARS-CoV-2 变异株上表现出高灵敏度和特异性,并通过 WGS 进行了交叉验证。