scholarly journals SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern are associated with lower RT-PCR amplification cycles between January and March 2021 in France

Author(s):  
Benedicte Roquebert ◽  
Stephanie Haim-Boukobza ◽  
Sabine Trombert-Paolantoni ◽  
Emmanuel Lecorche ◽  
Laura Verdurme ◽  
...  

SARS-CoV-2 variants raise concern regarding the mortality caused by COVID-19 epidemics. We analyse 88,375 cycle amplification (Ct) values from variant-specific RT-PCR tests performed between January 26 and March 13, 2021. We estimate that on March 12, nearly 85% of the infections were caused by the V1 variant and that its transmission advantage over wild type strains was between 38 and 44%. We also find that tests positive for V1 and V2/V3 variants exhibit significantly lower cycle threshold (Ct) values.

PeerJ ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. e1560 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rashi Gautam ◽  
Slavica Mijatovic-Rustempasic ◽  
Mathew D. Esona ◽  
Ka Ian Tam ◽  
Osbourne Quaye ◽  
...  

Background.Group A rotavirus (RVA) infection is the major cause of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) in young children worldwide. Introduction of two live-attenuated rotavirus vaccines, RotaTeq® and Rotarix®, has dramatically reduced RVA associated AGE and mortality in developed as well as in many developing countries. High-throughput methods are needed to genotype rotavirus wild-type strains and to identify vaccine strains in stool samples. Quantitative RT-PCR assays (qRT-PCR) offer several advantages including increased sensitivity, higher throughput, and faster turnaround time.Methods.In this study, a one-step multiplex qRT-PCR assay was developed to detect and genotype wild-type strains and vaccine (Rotarix® and RotaTeq®) rotavirus strains along with an internal processing control (Xeno or MS2 RNA). Real-time RT-PCR assays were designed for VP7 (G1, G2, G3, G4, G9, G12) and VP4 (P[4], P[6] and P[8]) genotypes. The multiplex qRT-PCR assay also included previously published NSP3 qRT-PCR for rotavirus detection and Rotarix® NSP2 and RotaTeq® VP6 qRT-PCRs for detection of Rotarix® and RotaTeq® vaccine strains respectively. The multiplex qRT-PCR assay was validated using 853 sequence confirmed stool samples and 24 lab cultured strains of different rotavirus genotypes. By using thermostablerTthpolymerase enzyme, dsRNA denaturation, reverse transcription (RT) and amplification (PCR) steps were performed in single tube by uninterrupted thermocycling profile to reduce chances of sample cross contamination and for rapid generation of results. For quantification, standard curves were generated using dsRNA transcripts derived from RVA gene segments.Results.The VP7 qRT-PCRs exhibited 98.8–100% sensitivity, 99.7–100% specificity, 85–95% efficiency and a limit of detection of 4–60 copies per singleplex reaction. The VP7 qRT-PCRs exhibited 81–92% efficiency and limit of detection of 150–600 copies in multiplex reactions. The VP4 qRT-PCRs exhibited 98.8–100% sensitivity, 100% specificity, 86–89% efficiency and a limit of detection of 12–400 copies per singleplex reactions. The VP4 qRT-PCRs exhibited 82–90% efficiency and limit of detection of 120–4000 copies in multiplex reaction.Discussion.The one-step multiplex qRT-PCR assay will facilitate high-throughput rotavirus genotype characterization for monitoring circulating rotavirus wild-type strains causing rotavirus infections, determining the frequency of Rotarix® and RotaTeq® vaccine strains and vaccine-derived reassortants associated with AGE, and help to identify novel rotavirus strains derived by reassortment between vaccine and wild-type strains.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhilin Wang ◽  
Xuerui Li ◽  
Youjun Shang ◽  
Jinyan Wu ◽  
Zhen Dong ◽  
...  

Abstract BackgroundPorcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is a pathogen causing serious disease and resulting in severe economic losses in the swine industry. In recent years, although China has adopted a large-scale vaccine immunization strategy, many types of PEDV strains, including classical attenuated vaccine strains, have been discovered in the immunized pig herds. Therefore, monitoring the prevalence of different types of PEDV strains is particularly important for the production of pigs and the safety evaluation of related attenuated vaccines MethodsIn the study, a one-step real-time fluorescent reverse transcription PCR (one-step real-time RT-PCR) assay targeting 24-nucleotide deletion in the ORF1 region of three PEDV classical attenuated vaccine strains (derived from classical strains) was established, which could effectively distinguish PEDV classical attenuated vaccine strains and wild-type strains. ResultsIn our study, the RNA detection limits for PEDV wild-type strains and classical attenuated vaccine strains were 3.0×103 copies and 3.0×102 copies, respectively. This assay was highly specific for PEDV, with no cross-reactivity for other viruses, causing diarrheal disease. A total of 117 swine fecal samples were analysed by this established real-time RT-PCR assay, indicating that classical attenuated vaccine strains were present in the swine herds in Gansu province, China. Additionally, a pair of primers and two probes of the established assay can be placed in one reaction tube to distinguish PEDV classical attenuated vaccine strains and wild-type strains. ConclusionOur results provided an effective and cheap technology platform for clinical rapid identification testing and epidemiological investigations of PEDV wild-type strains and classical attenuated vaccine strains


ACS Omega ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilka Engelmann ◽  
Enagnon Kazali Alidjinou ◽  
Judith Ogiez ◽  
Quentin Pagneux ◽  
Sana Miloudi ◽  
...  

Genetics ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 162 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qijun Xiang ◽  
N Louise Glass

AbstractA non-self-recognition system called vegetative incompatibility is ubiquitous in filamentous fungi and is genetically regulated by het loci. Different fungal individuals are unable to form viable heterokaryons if they differ in allelic specificity at a het locus. To identify components of vegetative incompatibility mediated by allelic differences at the het-c locus of Neurospora crassa, we isolated mutants that suppressed phenotypic aspects of het-c vegetative incompatibility. Three deletion mutants were identified; the deletions overlapped each other in an ORF named vib-1 (vegetative incompatibility blocked). Mutations in vib-1 fully relieved growth inhibition and repression of conidiation conferred by het-c vegetative incompatibility and significantly reduced hyphal compartmentation and death rates. The vib-1 mutants displayed a profuse conidiation pattern, suggesting that VIB-1 is a regulator of conidiation. VIB-1 shares a region of similarity to PHOG, a possible phosphate nonrepressible acid phosphatase in Aspergillus nidulans. Native gel analysis of wild-type strains and vib-1 mutants indicated that vib-1 is not the structural gene for nonrepressible acid phosphatase, but rather may regulate nonrepressible acid phosphatase activity.


Genetics ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 161 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-81
Author(s):  
Eric Espagne ◽  
Pascale Balhadère ◽  
Marie-Louise Penin ◽  
Christian Barreau ◽  
Béatrice Turcq

Abstract Vegetative incompatibility, which is very common in filamentous fungi, prevents a viable heterokaryotic cell from being formed by the fusion of filaments from two different wild-type strains. Such incompatibility is always the consequence of at least one genetic difference in specific genes (het genes). In Podospora anserina, alleles of the het-e and het-d loci control heterokaryon viability through genetic interactions with alleles of the unlinked het-c locus. The het-d2Y gene was isolated and shown to have strong similarity with the previously described het-e1A gene. Like the HET-E protein, the HET-D putative protein displayed a GTP-binding domain and seemed to require a minimal number of 11 WD40 repeats to be active in incompatibility. Apart from incompatibility specificity, no other function could be identified by disrupting the het-d gene. Sequence comparison of different het-e alleles suggested that het-e specificity is determined by the sequence of the WD40 repeat domain. In particular, the amino acids present on the upper face of the predicted β-propeller structure defined by this domain may confer the incompatible interaction specificity.


Genetics ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 155 (3) ◽  
pp. 1105-1117 ◽  
Author(s):  
W John Haynes ◽  
Kit-Yin Ling ◽  
Robin R Preston ◽  
Yoshiro Saimi ◽  
Ching Kung

Abstract Pawn mutants of Paramecium tetraurelia lack a depolarization-activated Ca2+ current and do not swim backward. Using the method of microinjection and sorting a genomic library, we have cloned a DNA fragment that complements pawn-B (pwB/pwB). The minimal complementing fragment is a 798-bp open reading frame (ORF) that restores the Ca2+ current and the backward swimming when expressed. This ORF contains a 29-bp intron and is transcribed and translated. The translated product has two putative transmembrane domains but no clear matches in current databases. Mutations in the available pwB alleles were found within this ORF. The d4-95 and d4-96 alleles are single base substitutions, while d4-662 (previously pawn-D) harbors a 44-bp insertion that matches an internal eliminated sequence (IES) found in the wild-type germline DNA except for a single C-to-T transition. Northern hybridizations and RT-PCR indicate that d4-662 transcripts are rapidly degraded or not produced. A second 155-bp IES in the wild-type germline ORF excises at two alternative sites spanning three asparagine codons. The pwB ORF appears to be separated from a 5′ neighboring ORF by only 36 bp. The close proximity of the two ORFs and the location of the pwB protein as indicated by GFP-fusion constructs are discussed.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens Schittenhelm ◽  
Lukas Ziegler ◽  
Jan Sperveslage ◽  
Michel Mittelbronn ◽  
David Capper ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) inhibitors are currently used in clinical development. A subset of glioblastomas carries gene fusion of FGFR3 and transforming acidic coiled-coil protein 3. The prevalence of other FGFR3 alterations in glioma is currently unclear. Methods We performed RT-PCR in 101 glioblastoma samples to detect FGFR3-TACC3 fusions (“RT-PCR cohort”) and correlated results with FGFR3 immunohistochemistry (IHC). Further, we applied FGFR3 IHC in 552 tissue microarray glioma samples (“TMA cohort”) and validated these results in two external cohorts with 319 patients. Gene panel sequencing was carried out in 88 samples (“NGS cohort”) to identify other possible FGFR3 alterations. Molecular modeling was performed on newly detected mutations. Results In the “RT-PCR cohort,” we identified FGFR3-TACC3 fusions in 2/101 glioblastomas. Positive IHC staining was observed in 73/1024 tumor samples of which 10 were strongly positive. In the “NGS cohort,” we identified FGFR3 fusions in 9/88 cases, FGFR3 amplification in 2/88 cases, and FGFR3 gene mutations in 7/88 cases in targeted sequencing. All FGFR3 fusions and amplifications and a novel FGFR3 K649R missense mutation were associated with FGFR3 overexpression (sensitivity and specificity of 93% and 95%, respectively, at cutoff IHC score > 7). Modeling of these data indicated that Tyr647, a residue phosphorylated as a part of FGFR3 activation, is affected by the K649R mutation. Conclusions FGFR3 IHC is a useful screening tool for the detection of FGFR3 alterations and could be included in the workflow for isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) wild-type glioma diagnostics. Samples with positive FGFR3 staining could then be selected for NGS-based diagnostic tools.


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