Use of Sanger protocols to identify variants of concern, key mutations and track evolution of SARS-CoV-2

Autor: Gabriela Bastos Cabral, Cintia Mayumi Ahagon, Paula Morena de Souza Guimarães, Giselle Ibette Silva Lopez-Lopes, Igor Mohamed Hussein, Audrey Cilli, Ivy de Jesus Alves, Andréa Gobetti Coelho Bombonatte, Maria do Carmo Sampaio Tavares Timenetsky, Jaqueline Helena da Silva Santos, Katia Corrêa de Oliveira Santos, Fabiana Cristina Pereira dos Santos, Luís Fernando de Macedo Brígido
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of Virological Methods
ISSN: 1879-0984
Popis: Vaccination and the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants mark the second year of the pandemic. Variants have amino acid mutations at the spike region, a viral protein central in the understanding of COVID-19 pathogenesis and vaccine response. Variants may dominate local epidemics, as Gamma (P.1) in Brazil, emerging in 2020 and prevailing until mid-2021. Different obstacles hinder a wider use of Next-Generation Sequencing for genomic surveillance. We describe Sanger based sequencing protocols: i) Semi-nested RT-PCR covering up to 3.684 kb (>96 %) spike gene; ii) One-Step RT-PCR for key Receptor Binding Domain (RBD) mutations (codons 417–501); iii) One-Step RT-PCR of partial N region to improve genomic capability. Protocols use leftovers of RNA extracted from nasopharyngeal swabs for quantitative RT-PCR diagnosis; with retro-transcribed DNA sequenced at ABI 3500 using dye termination chemistry. Analyses of sequences from 95 individuals (late 2020/early 2021) identified extensive amino acid variation, 57 % with at least one key mutation at the Receptor Binding Domain, with B.1.1.28 lineage most prevalent, followed by Gamma and Zeta variants, with no Delta variant observed. The relatively low cost and simplicity may provide an accessible tool to improve surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 evolution, monitor new variants and vaccinated breakthroughs.
Databáze: OpenAIRE