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Goswami C, Sheldon M, Bixby C, Keddache M, Bogdanowicz A, Wang Y, Schultz J, McDevitt J, LaPorta J, Kwon E, Buyske S, Garbolino D, Biloholowski G, Pastuszak A, Storella M, Bhalla A, Charlier-Rodriguez F, Hager R, Grimwood R, Nahas SA. Identification of SARS-CoV-2 variants using viral sequencing for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention genomic surveillance program. BMC Infect Dis 2022; 22:404. [PMID: 35468749 PMCID: PMC9035976 DOI: 10.1186/s12879-022-07374-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2021] [Accepted: 04/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention contracted with laboratories to sequence the SARS-CoV-2 genome from positive samples across the United States to enable public health officials to investigate the impact of variants on disease severity as well as the effectiveness of vaccines and treatment. Herein we present the initial results correlating RT-PCR quality control metrics with sample collection and sequencing methods from full SARS-CoV-2 viral genomic sequencing of 24,441 positive patient samples between April and June 2021. METHODS RT-PCR confirmed (N Gene Ct value < 30) positive patient samples, with nucleic acid extracted from saliva, nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs were selected for viral whole genome SARS-CoV-2 sequencing. Sequencing was performed using Illumina COVIDSeq™ protocol on either the NextSeq550 or NovaSeq6000 systems. Informatic variant calling, and lineage analysis were performed using DRAGEN COVID Lineage applications on Illumina's Basespace cloud analytical system. All sequence data and variant calls were uploaded to NCBI and GISAID. RESULTS An association was observed between higher sequencing coverage, quality, and samples with a lower Ct value, with < 27 being optimal, across both sequencing platforms and sample collection methods. Both nasopharyngeal swabs and saliva samples were found to be optimal samples of choice for SARS-CoV-2 surveillance sequencing studies, both in terms of strain identification and sequencing depth of coverage, with NovaSeq 6000 providing higher coverage than the NextSeq 550. The most frequent variants identified were the B.1.617.2 Delta (India) and P.1 Gamma (Brazil) variants in the samples sequenced between April 2021 and June 2021. At the time of submission, the most common variant > 99% of positives sequenced was Omicron. CONCLUSION These initial analyses highlight the importance of sequencing platform, sample collection methods, and RT-PCR Ct values in guiding surveillance efforts. These surveillance studies evaluating genetic changes of SARS-CoV-2 have been identified as critical by the CDC that can affect many aspects of public health including transmission, disease severity, diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chirayu Goswami
- Infinity-Biologix LLC, 30 Knightsbridge Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA
| | - Michael Sheldon
- Infinity-Biologix LLC, 30 Knightsbridge Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA
| | - Christian Bixby
- Infinity-Biologix LLC, 30 Knightsbridge Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA
| | | | | | - Yihe Wang
- Infinity-Biologix LLC, 30 Knightsbridge Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA
| | - Jonathan Schultz
- Infinity-Biologix LLC, 30 Knightsbridge Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA
| | - Jessica McDevitt
- Infinity-Biologix LLC, 30 Knightsbridge Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA
| | - James LaPorta
- Infinity-Biologix LLC, 30 Knightsbridge Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA
| | - Elaine Kwon
- Infinity-Biologix LLC, 30 Knightsbridge Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA
| | - Steven Buyske
- Rutgers University, 559 Hill Center, 110 Frelinghuysen Rd, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA
| | - Dana Garbolino
- Infinity-Biologix LLC, 30 Knightsbridge Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA
| | | | - Alex Pastuszak
- Vault Health, 115 Broadway Suite 1800, 18th Floor, Dobbs Ferry, NY, 10522, USA
| | - Mary Storella
- Infinity-Biologix LLC, 30 Knightsbridge Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA
| | - Amit Bhalla
- Infinity-Biologix LLC, 30 Knightsbridge Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA
| | | | - Russ Hager
- Infinity-Biologix LLC, 30 Knightsbridge Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA
| | - Robin Grimwood
- Infinity-Biologix LLC, 30 Knightsbridge Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA
| | - Shareef A Nahas
- Infinity-Biologix LLC, 30 Knightsbridge Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA.
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