New Virus Variant Detection Based on the Optimal Natural Metric.

Autor: Yu H; Department of Mathematical Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China., Yau SS; Department of Mathematical Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.; Beijing Institute of Mathematical Sciences and Applications (Bimsa), Beijing 101408, China.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Genes [Genes (Basel)] 2024 Jul 07; Vol. 15 (7). Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Jul 07.
DOI: 10.3390/genes15070891
Abstrakt: The highly variable SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic frequently undergoes mutations, leading to the emergence of new variants that present novel threats to public health. The determination of these variants often relies on manual definition based on local sequence characteristics, resulting in delays in their detection relative to their actual emergence. In this study, we propose an algorithm for the automatic identification of novel variants. By leveraging the optimal natural metric for viruses based on an alignment-free perspective to measure distances between sequences, we devise a hypothesis testing framework to determine whether a given viral sequence belongs to a novel variant. Our method demonstrates high accuracy, achieving nearly 100% precision in identifying new variants of SARS-CoV-2 and HIV-1 as well as in detecting novel genera in Orthocoronavirinae. This approach holds promise for timely surveillance and management of emerging viral threats in the field of public health.
Databáze: MEDLINE