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Home > Biblio > Deepening of In Silico Evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 Detection RT-qPCR Assays in the Context of New Variants

Deepening of In Silico Evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 Detection RT-qPCR Assays in the Context of New Variants

Effectiveness and safety of vaccines, medicines and health products - Quality of medical laboratories  
Health and environment  
Health and disease monitoring  
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Public Access

Published

Peer reviewed scientific article

English

DOI : https://doi.org/10.3390/genes12040565 [2]

Authors

Mathieu Gand [3]; Kevin Vanneste [4]; Isabelle Thomas [5]; Steven Van Gucht [6]; Arnaud Capron [7]; Philippe Herman [8]; Nancy Roosens [9]; Sigrid C.J. De Keersmaecker [10]

Keywords

  1. SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; variants; detection; RT-qPCR; in silico specificity evaluation; bioinformatics tool; WGS data; mismatches; primers and probes [11]
Article written during project(s) : 

Abstract:

For 1 year now, the world is undergoing a coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic due to the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The most widely used method for COVID-19 diagnosis is the detection of viral RNA by RT-qPCR with a specific set of primers and probe. It is important to frequently evaluate the performance of these tests and this can be done first by an in silico approach. Previously, we reported some mismatches between the oligonucleotides of publicly available RT-qPCR assays and SARS-CoV-2 genomes collected from GISAID and NCBI, potentially impacti…
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Abstract

For 1 year now, the world is undergoing a coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic due to the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The most widely used method for COVID-19 diagnosis is the detection of viral RNA by RT-qPCR with a specific set of primers and probe. It is important to frequently evaluate the performance of these tests and this can be done first by an in silico approach. Previously, we reported some mismatches between the oligonucleotides of publicly available RT-qPCR assays and SARS-CoV-2 genomes collected from GISAID and NCBI, potentially impacting proper detection of the virus. In the present study, 11 primers and probe sets investigated during the first study were evaluated again with 84,305 new SARS-CoV-2 unique genomes collected between June 2020 and January 2021. The lower inclusivity of the China CDC assay targeting the gene N has continued to decrease with new mismatches detected, whereas the other evaluated assays kept their inclusivity above 99%. Additionally, some mutations specific to new SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern were found to be located in oligonucleotide annealing sites. This might impact the strategy to be considered for future SARS-CoV-2 testing. Given the potential threat of the new variants, it is crucial to assess if they can still be correctly targeted by the primers and probes of the RT-qPCR assays. Our study highlights that considering the evolution of the virus and the emergence of new variants, an in silico (re-)evaluation should be performed on a regular basis. Ideally, this should be done for all the RT-qPCR assays employed for SARS-CoV-2 detection, including also commercial tests, although the primer and probe sequences used in these kits are rarely disclosed, which impedes independent performance evaluation.

Associated health topics:

Effectiveness and safety of vaccines, medicines and health products - Quality of medical laboratories [12]
Health and environment [13]
Coronavirus [14]

Source URL:https://www.sciensano.be/en/biblio/deepening-silico-evaluation-sars-cov-2-detection-rt-qpcr-assays-context-new-variants

Links
[1] https://www.sciensano.be/sites/default/files/genes-12-00565-v2.pdf [2] https://doi.org/10.3390/genes12040565 [3] https://www.sciensano.be/en/people/mathieu-gand/biblio [4] https://www.sciensano.be/en/people/kevin-vanneste/biblio [5] https://www.sciensano.be/en/biblio?f%5Bauthor%5D=37512&f%5Bsearch%5D=Isabelle%20Thomas [6] https://www.sciensano.be/en/people/steven-van-gucht/biblio [7] https://www.sciensano.be/en/people/arnaud-capron/biblio [8] https://www.sciensano.be/en/people/philippe-herman/biblio [9] https://www.sciensano.be/en/people/nancy-roosens/biblio [10] https://www.sciensano.be/en/people/sigrid-de-keersmaecker/biblio [11] https://www.sciensano.be/en/biblio?f%5Bkeyword%5D=36705&f%5Bsearch%5D=SARS-CoV-2%3B%20COVID-19%3B%20variants%3B%20detection%3B%20RT-qPCR%3B%20in%20silico%20specificity%20evaluation%3B%20bioinformatics%20tool%3B%20WGS%20data%3B%20mismatches%3B%20primers%20and%20probes [12] https://www.sciensano.be/en/health-topics/effectiveness-and-safety-vaccines-medicines-and-health-products-quality-medical-laboratories [13] https://www.sciensano.be/en/health-topics/health-and-environment [14] https://www.sciensano.be/en/health-topics/coronavirus