1
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Lu M, Sun X, Zhao Y, Zheng L, Lin J, Tang C, Chao K, Chen Y, Li K, Zhou Y, Xiao J. Low cycle number multiplex PCR: A novel strategy for the construction of amplicon libraries for next-generation sequencing. Electrophoresis 2024. [PMID: 38533931 DOI: 10.1002/elps.202300160] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2023] [Revised: 02/11/2024] [Accepted: 02/15/2024] [Indexed: 03/28/2024]
Abstract
Multiplex PCR is a critical step when preparing amplicon library for next-generation sequencing. However, there are several challenges related to multiplex PCR including poor uniformity, nonspecific amplification, and primer-dimers. To address these issues, we propose a novel solution strategy that involves using a low cycle number (<10 cycles) in multiplex PCR and then employing carrier DNAs and magnetic beads for the selection of targeted products. This technique improves the amplicon uniformity while also reducing primer-dimers and PCR artifacts. To evaluate our technique, we initially utilized 120 DNA fragments from mouse genome containing single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) sites. Sequencing results demonstrated that with only 7 cycles of multiplex PCR, 95.8% of the targeted SNP sites were mapped, with a coverage of at least 1×. The average sequencing depth of all amplicons was 1705.79 ± 1205.30×; 87% of them reached a coverage depth that exceeded 0.2-fold of the average sequencing depth. Our method had a greater uniformity (87%) when compared to Hi-Plex PCR (53.3%). Furthermore, we validated our strategy by randomly selecting 90 primer pairs twice from the initial set of 120 primer-pairs. Next, we used the same protocol to prepare amplicon libraries. The two groups had an average sequencing depth of 1013.30 ± 585.57× and 219.10 ± 158.27×, respectively; over 84% of the amplicons had a sequencing depth that exceeded 0.2-fold of average depth. These results suggest that the use of a low cycle number in multiplex PCR is a cost-effective and efficient approach for the preparation of amplicon libraries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meng Lu
- College of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai, P. R. China
| | - Xiuxiu Sun
- College of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai, P. R. China
| | - Yuxin Zhao
- College of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai, P. R. China
| | - Linlin Zheng
- College of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai, P. R. China
| | - Junjie Lin
- College of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai, P. R. China
| | - Chen Tang
- College of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai, P. R. China
| | - Kaiyue Chao
- Shanghai Biowing Biotechnology Application Co., Ltd, Shanghai, P. R. China
| | - Ye Chen
- Shanghai Biowing Biotechnology Application Co., Ltd, Shanghai, P. R. China
| | - Kai Li
- College of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai, P. R. China
| | - Yuxun Zhou
- College of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai, P. R. China
| | - Junhua Xiao
- College of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai, P. R. China
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2
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Mantena S, Pillai PP, Petros BA, Welch NL, Myhrvold C, Sabeti PC, Metsky HC. Model-directed generation of CRISPR-Cas13a guide RNAs designs artificial sequences that improve nucleic acid detection. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.09.20.557569. [PMID: 37786711 PMCID: PMC10541601 DOI: 10.1101/2023.09.20.557569] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/04/2023]
Abstract
Generating maximally-fit biological sequences has the potential to transform CRISPR guide RNA design as it has other areas of biomedicine. Here, we introduce model-directed exploration algorithms (MEAs) for designing maximally-fit, artificial CRISPR-Cas13a guides-with multiple mismatches to any natural sequence-that are tailored for desired properties around nucleic acid diagnostics. We find that MEA-designed guides offer more sensitive detection of diverse pathogens and discrimination of pathogen variants compared to guides derived directly from natural sequences, and illuminate interpretable design principles that broaden Cas13a targeting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sreekar Mantena
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Statistics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | | | - Brittany A. Petros
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Harvard/Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MD-PhD Program, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | - Cameron Myhrvold
- Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Pardis C. Sabeti
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, MD, USA
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
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3
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Yoo H, Huyen PTM, Chae J, Karanovic I. Three Loxocaudinae species (Ostracoda, Podocopida) from South Korea. Zookeys 2023; 1138:183-209. [PMID: 36760774 PMCID: PMC9840065 DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1138.96201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2022] [Accepted: 12/16/2022] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
For many ostracod groups in Korea, published records are missing or are very limited. Loxocaudinae is one such subfamily, with only one named species, Loxocaudaorientalis Schornikov, 2011 reported from Korea. Having fewer than 50 species, this subfamily can be considered a small ostracod group, with most of the species known only by their shell morphology. The diagnoses of genera are based on the shell characters that are often homoplastic, and soft body appendages that are difficult to observe, such as the mandibular exopodite. Because of this, the validity of the entire subfamily and some of its genera have been questioned. Here three Loxocaudinae species were collected from the marine macrobenthic assemblages from Korea. Two are new and belong to the genus Glacioloxoconcha Hartmann, 1990, previously known only from Antarctica: Glacioloxoconchajeongokensis sp. nov. and Glacioloxoconchajisepoensis sp. nov. Loxocaudaorientalis is briefly redescribed, with some of the populations having unusual morphological features. COI and 18S rRNA sequences of all three species are provided and the latter marker used to assess the position of the subfamily within the family Loxoconchidae and the superfamily Cytheroidea. The resulting tree shows that within the family Loxoconchidae, the genera Glacioloxoconcha and Loxocauda Schornikov, 1969 are the most closely related, with very shallow but well-supported branches. Polyphyletic and paraphyletic natures of several Cytheroidea families are discussed, inferred from the reconstructed phylogeny.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hyunsu Yoo
- Marine Environmental Research and Information Laboratory (MERIL), 17, Gosan-ro, 148 beon-gil, Gunpo-si, Gyoenggi-do, 15180, Republic of Korea
| | - Pham Thi Minh Huyen
- Department of Applied Chemistry and Biological Engineering, Graduate School Department of Molecular Science and Technology, Ajou University, Suwon, 16499, Republic of Korea
| | - Jinho Chae
- Marine Environmental Research and Information Laboratory (MERIL), 17, Gosan-ro, 148 beon-gil, Gunpo-si, Gyoenggi-do, 15180, Republic of Korea
| | - Ivana Karanovic
- Department of Life Science, College of Natural Sciences, Hanyang University, Seoul, 04763, Republic of Korea
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4
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Jeon H, Bae J, Kim H, Kim MS. VPrimer: A Method of Designing and Updating Primer and Probe With High Variant Coverage for RNA Virus Detection. IEEE/ACM TRANSACTIONS ON COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY AND BIOINFORMATICS 2023; 20:775-784. [PMID: 34951850 DOI: 10.1109/tcbb.2021.3138145] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
Fatal infectious diseases caused by RNA viruses, such as COVID-19, have emerged around the world. RT-PCR is widely employed for virus detection, and its accuracy depends on the primers and probes since RT-PCR can detect a virus only when the primers and probes bind to the target gene of the virus. Most of primer design methods are for a single host and so require a great deal of effort to design for RNA virus detection, including homology tests among the host and all the viruses for the host using BLAST-like tools. Furthermore, they do not consider variant sequences, which are very common in viruses. In this study, we describe VPrimer, a method of designing high-quality primer-probe sets for RNA viruses. VPrimer can find primer-probe sets that cover more than 95% of the variants of a target virus but do not cover any sequences of other viruses or the host. With VPrimer, we found 381,698,582 primer-probe sets for 3,104 RNA viruses. Multiplex PCR assays using the top 2 primer-probe sets suggested by VPrimer usually cover 100% of variants. To address the rapid changes in viral genomes, VPrimer finds the best and up-to-date primer-probe sets incrementally against the most recently reported variants.
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5
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Metsky HC, Welch NL, Pillai PP, Haradhvala NJ, Rumker L, Mantena S, Zhang YB, Yang DK, Ackerman CM, Weller J, Blainey PC, Myhrvold C, Mitzenmacher M, Sabeti PC. Designing sensitive viral diagnostics with machine learning. Nat Biotechnol 2022; 40:1123-1131. [PMID: 35241837 PMCID: PMC9287178 DOI: 10.1038/s41587-022-01213-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2021] [Accepted: 01/07/2022] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Design of nucleic acid-based viral diagnostics typically follows heuristic rules and, to contend with viral variation, focuses on a genome's conserved regions. A design process could, instead, directly optimize diagnostic effectiveness using a learned model of sensitivity for targets and their variants. Toward that goal, we screen 19,209 diagnostic-target pairs, concentrated on CRISPR-based diagnostics, and train a deep neural network to accurately predict diagnostic readout. We join this model with combinatorial optimization to maximize sensitivity over the full spectrum of a virus's genomic variation. We introduce Activity-informed Design with All-inclusive Patrolling of Targets (ADAPT), a system for automated design, and use it to design diagnostics for 1,933 vertebrate-infecting viral species within 2 hours for most species and within 24 hours for all but three. We experimentally show that ADAPT's designs are sensitive and specific to the lineage level and permit lower limits of detection, across a virus's variation, than the outputs of standard design techniques. Our strategy could facilitate a proactive resource of assays for detecting pathogens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hayden C Metsky
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA.
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA.
| | - Nicole L Welch
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Virology Program, Division of Medical Sciences, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | - Nicholas J Haradhvala
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Biophysics Program, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Laurie Rumker
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Bioinformatics and Integrative Genomics Program, Department of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Sreekar Mantena
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Yibin B Zhang
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - David K Yang
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Cheri M Ackerman
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Biological Engineering, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | | | - Paul C Blainey
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Biological Engineering, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Cameron Myhrvold
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Michael Mitzenmacher
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Pardis C Sabeti
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA.
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
- Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA.
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, MD, USA.
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6
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Persson S, Larsson C, Simonsson M, Ellström P. rprimer: an R/bioconductor package for design of degenerate oligos for sequence variable viruses. BMC Bioinformatics 2022; 23:239. [PMID: 35717145 PMCID: PMC9206141 DOI: 10.1186/s12859-022-04781-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2022] [Accepted: 06/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Background This paper presents a new R/Bioconductor package, rprimer, for design of degenerate oligos and PCR assays for sequence variable viruses. A multiple DNA sequence alignment is used as input data, while the outputs consist of comprehensive tables (data frames) and dashboard-like plots. The workflow can be run directly from the R console or through a graphical user interface (Shiny application). Here, rprimer is demonstrated and evaluated by using it to design two norovirus genogroup I (GI) assays: one RT-qPCR assay for quantitative detection and one RT‑PCR assay for Sanger sequencing and polymerase-capsid based genotyping. Results The assays generated were evaluated using stool samples testing positive for norovirus GI. The RT-qPCR assay accurately amplified and quantified all samples and showed comparable performance to a widely-used standardised assay, while the RT-PCR assay resulted in successful sequencing and genotyping of all samples. Merits and limitations of the package were identified through comparison with three similar freely available software packages. Several features were comparable across the different tools, but important advantages of rprimer were its speed, flexibility in oligo design and capacity for visualisation. Conclusions An R/Bioconductor package, rprimer, was developed and shown to be successful in designing primers and probes for quantitative detection and genotyping of a sequence-variable virus. The package provides an efficient, flexible and visual approach to degenerate oligo design, and can therefore assist in virus research and method development. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12859-022-04781-0.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sofia Persson
- European Union Reference Laboratory for Foodborne Viruses, Swedish Food Agency, Dag Hammarskjölds väg 56 A, 752 37, Uppsala, Sweden. .,Department of Medical Sciences, Zoonosis Science Centre, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
| | - Christina Larsson
- Section of Clinical Virology, Department of Medical Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Magnus Simonsson
- European Union Reference Laboratory for Foodborne Viruses, Swedish Food Agency, Dag Hammarskjölds väg 56 A, 752 37, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Patrik Ellström
- Department of Medical Sciences, Zoonosis Science Centre, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
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7
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Yang J, Li D, Wang J, Zhang R, Li J. Design, optimization, and application of multiplex rRT-PCR in the detection of respiratory viruses. Crit Rev Clin Lab Sci 2022:1-18. [PMID: 35559711 DOI: 10.1080/10408363.2022.2072467] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Viral respiratory infections are common and serious diseases. Because there is no effective treatment method or vaccine for respiratory tract infection, early diagnosis is vital to identify the pathogen so as to determine the infectivity of the patient and to quickly take measures to curb the spread of the virus, if warranted, to avoid serious public health problems. Real-time reverse transcriptase PCR (rRT-PCR), which has high sensitivity and specificity, is the best approach for early diagnosis. Among rRT-PCR methods, multiplex rRT-PCR can resolve issues arising from various types of viruses, high mutation frequency, coinfection, and low concentrations of virus. However, the design, optimization, and validation of multiplex rRT-PCR are more complicated than singleplex rRT-PCR, and comprehensive research on multiplex rRT-PCR methodology is lacking. This review summarizes recent progress in multiplex rRT-PCR methodology, outlines the principles of design, optimization and validation, and describes a scheme to help diagnostic companies to design and optimize their multiplex rRT-PCR detection panel and to assist laboratory staff to solve problems in their daily work. In addition, the analytical validity, clinical validity and clinical utility of multiplex rRT-PCR in viral respiratory tract infection diagnosis are assessed to provide theoretical guidance and useful information for physicians to understand the test results.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jing Yang
- National Center for Clinical Laboratories, Institute of Geriatric Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing Hospital/ National Center of Gerontology, P.R. China.,Graduate School of Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, P.R. China.,Beijing Engineering Research Center of Laboratory Medicine, Beijing Hospital, Beijing, P.R. China
| | - Dandan Li
- National Center for Clinical Laboratories, Institute of Geriatric Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing Hospital/ National Center of Gerontology, P.R. China.,Graduate School of Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, P.R. China.,Beijing Engineering Research Center of Laboratory Medicine, Beijing Hospital, Beijing, P.R. China
| | - Jie Wang
- National Center for Clinical Laboratories, Institute of Geriatric Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing Hospital/ National Center of Gerontology, P.R. China.,Graduate School of Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, P.R. China.,Beijing Engineering Research Center of Laboratory Medicine, Beijing Hospital, Beijing, P.R. China
| | - Rui Zhang
- National Center for Clinical Laboratories, Institute of Geriatric Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing Hospital/ National Center of Gerontology, P.R. China.,Graduate School of Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, P.R. China.,Beijing Engineering Research Center of Laboratory Medicine, Beijing Hospital, Beijing, P.R. China
| | - Jinming Li
- National Center for Clinical Laboratories, Institute of Geriatric Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing Hospital/ National Center of Gerontology, P.R. China.,Graduate School of Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, P.R. China.,Beijing Engineering Research Center of Laboratory Medicine, Beijing Hospital, Beijing, P.R. China
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8
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Prider: multiplexed primer design using linearly scaling approximation of set coverage. BMC Bioinformatics 2022; 23:174. [PMID: 35549665 PMCID: PMC9097127 DOI: 10.1186/s12859-022-04710-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2021] [Accepted: 05/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Designing oligonucleotide primers and probes is one of the key steps of various laboratory experiments such as multiplexed PCR or digital multiplexed ligation assays. When designing multiplexed primers and probes to complex, heterogeneous DNA data sets, an optimization problem can arise where the smallest number of oligonucleotides covering the largest diversity of the input dataset needs to be identified. Tools that provide this optimization in an efficient manner for large input data are currently lacking. Results Here we present Prider, an R package for designing primers and probes with a nearly optimal coverage for complex and large sequence sets. Prider initially prepares a full primer coverage of the input sequences, the complexity of which is subsequently reduced by removing components of high redundancy or narrow coverage. The primers from the resulting near-optimal coverage are easily accessible as data frames and their coverage across the input sequences can be visualised as heatmaps using Prider’s plotting function. Prider permits efficient design of primers to large DNA datasets by scaling linearly to increasing sequence data, regardless of the diversity of the dataset. Conclusions Prider solves a recalcitrant problem in molecular diagnostics: how to cover a maximal sequence diversity with a minimal number of oligonucleotide primers or probes. The combination of Prider with highly scalable molecular quantification techniques will permit an unprecedented molecular screening capability with immediate applicability in fields such as clinical microbiology, epidemic virus surveillance or antimicrobial resistance surveillance. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12859-022-04710-1.
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9
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Infection of Human Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells with Dengue Virus Strains Isolated during Outbreaks in Singapore. Microorganisms 2022; 10:microorganisms10020310. [PMID: 35208767 PMCID: PMC8878224 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms10020310] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2021] [Revised: 01/21/2022] [Accepted: 01/24/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Prevalence of dengue retinopathy varies across epidemics, with the disease linked to circulation of dengue virus serotype 1 (DENV-1). The retinal pigment epithelium has been implicated in the pathology. We investigated infectivity, molecular response, and barrier function of epithelial cells inoculated with DENV strains from different outbreaks in Singapore. Monolayers of human retinal pigment epithelial cells (multiple primary cell isolates and the ARPE-19 cell line) were inoculated with six DENV strains, at multiplicity of infection of 10; uninfected and recombinant strain-infected controls were included where relevant. Infectivity and cell response were assessed primarily by RT-qPCR on total cellular RNA, and barrier function was evaluated as electrical resistance across monolayers. Higher viral RNA loads were measured in human retinal pigment epithelial cells infected with DENV-1 strains from the 2005 Singapore epidemic, when retinopathy was prevalent, versus DENV-1 strains from the 2007 Singapore epidemic, when retinopathy was not observed. Type I interferon (IFN) transcripts (IFN-β and multiple IFN-stimulated genes) were up-regulated, and impact on barrier function was more pronounced, for cells infected with DENV-1 strains from the 2005 versus the 2007 Singapore epidemics. Aside from serotype, strain of DENV may determine the potential to induce retinal pathology. Identification of molecular markers of disease-associated DENV strains may provide insights into the pathogenesis of dengue retinopathy.
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10
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Stromberg ZR, Theiler J, Foley BT, Myers Y Gutiérrez A, Hollander A, Courtney SJ, Gans J, Deshpande A, Martinez-Finley EJ, Mitchell J, Mukundan H, Yusim K, Kubicek-Sutherland JZ. Fast Evaluation of Viral Emerging Risks (FEVER): A computational tool for biosurveillance, diagnostics, and mutation typing of emerging viral pathogens. PLOS GLOBAL PUBLIC HEALTH 2022; 2:e0000207. [PMID: 36962401 PMCID: PMC10021650 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0000207] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2021] [Accepted: 01/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Viral pathogens can rapidly evolve, adapt to novel hosts, and evade human immunity. The early detection of emerging viral pathogens through biosurveillance coupled with rapid and accurate diagnostics are required to mitigate global pandemics. However, RNA viruses can mutate rapidly, hampering biosurveillance and diagnostic efforts. Here, we present a novel computational approach called FEVER (Fast Evaluation of Viral Emerging Risks) to design assays that simultaneously accomplish: 1) broad-coverage biosurveillance of an entire group of viruses, 2) accurate diagnosis of an outbreak strain, and 3) mutation typing to detect variants of public health importance. We demonstrate the application of FEVER to generate assays to simultaneously 1) detect sarbecoviruses for biosurveillance; 2) diagnose infections specifically caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2); and 3) perform rapid mutation typing of the D614G SARS-CoV-2 spike variant associated with increased pathogen transmissibility. These FEVER assays had a high in silico recall (predicted positive) up to 99.7% of 525,708 SARS-CoV-2 sequences analyzed and displayed sensitivities and specificities as high as 92.4% and 100% respectively when validated in 100 clinical samples. The D614G SARS-CoV-2 spike mutation PCR test was able to identify the single nucleotide identity at position 23,403 in the viral genome of 96.6% SARS-CoV-2 positive samples without the need for sequencing. This study demonstrates the utility of FEVER to design assays for biosurveillance, diagnostics, and mutation typing to rapidly detect, track, and mitigate future outbreaks and pandemics caused by emerging viruses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zachary R Stromberg
- Physical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, United States of America
| | - James Theiler
- Space Data Science and Systems, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, United States of America
| | - Brian T Foley
- Theoretical Biology and Biophysics, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, United States of America
| | - Adán Myers Y Gutiérrez
- Biosecurity and Public Health, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, United States of America
| | - Attelia Hollander
- Biosecurity and Public Health, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, United States of America
| | - Samantha J Courtney
- Physical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, United States of America
| | - Jason Gans
- Biosecurity and Public Health, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, United States of America
| | - Alina Deshpande
- Biosecurity and Public Health, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, United States of America
| | | | - Jason Mitchell
- Presbyterian Healthcare Services, Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States of America
| | - Harshini Mukundan
- Physical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, United States of America
| | - Karina Yusim
- Theoretical Biology and Biophysics, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, United States of America
| | - Jessica Z Kubicek-Sutherland
- Physical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, United States of America
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11
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Sequencing Using a Two-Step Strategy Reveals High Genetic Diversity in the S Gene of SARS-CoV-2 after a High-Transmission Period in Tunis, Tunisia. Microbiol Spectr 2021; 9:e0063921. [PMID: 34756072 PMCID: PMC8579926 DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.00639-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent efforts have reported numerous variants that influence severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) viral characteristics, including pathogenicity, transmission rate, and detectability by molecular tests. Whole-genome sequencing based on next-generation sequencing technologies is the method of choice to identify all viral variants; however, the resources needed to use these techniques for a representative number of specimens remain limited in many low- and middle-income countries. To decrease sequencing costs, we developed a primer set allowing partial sequences to be generated in the viral S gene, enabling rapid detection of numerous variants of concern (VOCs) and variants of interest (VOIs); whole-genome sequencing is then performed on a selection of viruses based on partial sequencing results. Two hundred one nasopharyngeal specimens collected during the decreasing phase of a high-transmission COVID-19 wave in Tunisia were analyzed. The results reveal high genetic variability within the sequenced fragment and allow the detection of first introductions in the country of already-known VOCs and VOIs, as well as other variants that have interesting genomic mutations and need to be kept under surveillance. IMPORTANCE The method of choice for SARS-CoV-2 variant detection is whole-genome sequencing using next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies. Resources for this technology remain limited in many low- and middle-income countries, where it is not possible to perform whole-genome sequencing for representative numbers of SARS-CoV-2-positive cases. In the present work, we developed a novel strategy based on a first partial Sanger screening in the S gene, which includes key mutations of the already known VOCs and VOIs, for rapid identification of these VOCs and VOIs and to help better select specimens that need to be sequenced by NGS technologies. The second step consists of whole-genome sequencing to allow a holistic view of all variants within the selected viral strains and confirm the initial classification of the strains based on partial S gene sequencing.
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12
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Pandey P, Gao Y, Kingsford C. VariantStore: an index for large-scale genomic variant search. Genome Biol 2021; 22:231. [PMID: 34412679 PMCID: PMC8375130 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-021-02442-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2020] [Accepted: 07/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Efficiently scaling genomic variant search indexes to thousands of samples is computationally challenging due to the presence of multiple coordinate systems to avoid reference biases. We present VariantStore, a system that indexes genomic variants from multiple samples using a variation graph and enables variant queries across any sample-specific coordinate system. We show the scalability of VariantStore by indexing genomic variants from the TCGA project in 4 h and the 1000 Genomes project in 3 h. Querying for variants in a gene takes between 0.002 and 3 seconds using memory only 10% of the size of the full representation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Prashant Pandey
- Computational Biology Department, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA
| | - Yinjie Gao
- Computational Biology Department, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA
| | - Carl Kingsford
- Computational Biology Department, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA
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13
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EntroPhylo: An entropy-based tool to select phylogenetic informative regions and primer design. INFECTION GENETICS AND EVOLUTION 2021; 92:104857. [PMID: 33838312 DOI: 10.1016/j.meegid.2021.104857] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2020] [Revised: 03/18/2021] [Accepted: 04/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
We present a novel entropy-based computational tool that selects phylogenetic informative genomic regions associated with degenerate primer design. This tool identifies proper phylogenetic markers and proposes suitable degenerate primers to amplify and sequence them. The algorithm calculates the entropy value per site, and the selected region is used for primer design. In order to evaluate the tool, sequences of bovine papillomavirus L1 gene were obtained. Once the molecular region was selected, the primers were designed by the software and used in a PCR reaction for viral detection. Three positive samples were tested with four different concentrations, and it was possible to detect the virus in all samples. The results show the applicability of a tool that can select informative regions for phylogenetic analysis and design primers to amplify and sequence these regions, becoming relevant for several studies focusing on pathogen detection, as well as phylogenetic and genetics studies of populations.
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14
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Minh Pham HT, Tanaka H, Karanovic I. Molecular and Morphological Diversity of Heterodesmus Brady and Its Phylogenetic Position within Cypridinidae (Ostracoda). Zoolog Sci 2020; 37:240-254. [PMID: 32549538 DOI: 10.2108/zs190118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2019] [Accepted: 01/28/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Ostracod genus Heterodesmus Brady, 1866 is known thus far to contain only three species: H. adamsii Brady, 1866; H. apriculus Hiruta, 1992; and H. naviformis (Poulsen, 1962). This genus has been recorded from the Sea of Japan, and the coastal areas of Thailand and Vietnam. The main generic character is the presence of antero-dorsal and postero-dorsal tube-like processes on the rostrum on both valves. The three species mostly differ in the shell lateral projections. Their relationship and the position of Heterodesmus within family Cypridinidae are poorly understood, partly due to the lack of publication of DNA data so far. We study Heterodesmus collected from several localities in the Northwest Pacific, namely Tsushima and Iki Islands in Japan and Maemul Island in Korea. Besides morphological characters, we also use two mitochondrial markers (16S rRNA and mtCOI) and three nuclear regions (18S rRNA, 28S rRNA, and internal transcribed spacer - ITS) in the samples to detect the biodiversity of this genus. Our phylogenetic tree based on molecular data coupled with morphology reveals the presence of two species, H. adamsii and H. apriculus. We report on their morphological variability, molecular diversity, and phylogenetic position within Cypridinidae based on 16S, 28S and 18S rRNAs, and provide a taxonomic key for all living genera of this family. For the first time, we give an overview of the intrageneric and intrafamily DNA distances of the above markers for the entire subclass Myodocopa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huyen Thi Minh Pham
- Department of Life Science, College of Natural Sciences, Hanyang University, Seoul 04763, Republic of Korea
| | - Hayato Tanaka
- Tokyo Sea Life Park, Edogawa-ku, Tokyo 134-8587, Japan
| | - Ivana Karanovic
- Department of Life Science, College of Natural Sciences, Hanyang University, Seoul 04763, Republic of Korea,
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15
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Hahn A, Podbielski A, Meyer T, Zautner AE, Loderstädt U, Schwarz NG, Krüger A, Cadar D, Frickmann H. On detection thresholds-a review on diagnostic approaches in the infectious disease laboratory and the interpretation of their results. Acta Trop 2020; 205:105377. [PMID: 32007448 DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2020.105377] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2019] [Revised: 11/18/2019] [Accepted: 01/29/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Diagnostic testing in the infectious disease laboratory facilitates decision-making by physicians at the bedside as well as epidemiological assessments and surveillance at study level. Problems may arise if test results are uncritically considered as being the same as the unknown true value. To allow a better understanding, the influence of external factors on the interpretation of test results is introduced with the example of prevalence, followed by the presentation of strengths and weaknesses of important techniques in the infectious disease laboratory like microscopy, cultural diagnostics, serology, mass spectrometry, nucleic acid amplification and hypothesis-free metagenomic sequencing with focus on basic, high-technology and potential future approaches. Special problems like multiplex testing as well as uncertainty of test evaluations, if no gold standard is available, are also stressed with a final glimpse on emerging future technologies for the infectious disease laboratory. In the conclusions, suitability for point-of-care-testing and field laboratory applications is summarized. The aim is to illustrate the limitations of diagnostic accuracy to both clinicians and study planners and to stress the importance of close cooperation with experts in laboratory disciplines so as to avoid potentially critical misunderstandings due to inappropriate interpretation of diagnostic test results.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas Hahn
- Institute for Medical Microbiology, Virology and Hygiene, University Medicine Rostock, Rostock, Germany
| | - Andreas Podbielski
- Institute for Medical Microbiology, Virology and Hygiene, University Medicine Rostock, Rostock, Germany
| | - Thomas Meyer
- Department of Dermatology, St. Josef Hospital, Bochum, Germany
| | - Andreas Erich Zautner
- Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie, Universitätsmedizin Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Ulrike Loderstädt
- Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
| | | | - Andreas Krüger
- Department of Microbiology and Hospital Hygiene, Bundeswehr Hospital Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Daniel Cadar
- Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Hagen Frickmann
- Institute for Medical Microbiology, Virology and Hygiene, University Medicine Rostock, Rostock, Germany; Department of Microbiology and Hospital Hygiene, Bundeswehr Hospital Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
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16
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Lauthier JJ, Ruybal P, Barroso PA, Hashiguchi Y, Marco JD, Korenaga M. Development of a Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) scheme for Pan-Leishmania. Acta Trop 2020; 201:105189. [PMID: 31580847 DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2019.105189] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2019] [Revised: 09/06/2019] [Accepted: 09/19/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Since the description of the Leishmania genus, its identification and organization have been a challenge. A high number of molecular markers have been developed to resolve phylogenetic differences at the species level and for addressing key epidemiological and population genetics questions. Based on Multilocus enzyme electrophoresis (MLEE), Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) schemes have been developed using different gene candidates. From 38 original gene targets proposed by other authors, 27 of them were chosen. In silico selection was made by analyzing free access genomic sequence data of 33 Leishmania species, one Paraleishmania representative, and one outgroup, in order to select the best 15 loci. De novo amplifications and primers redesign of these 15 genes were analyzed over a panel of 20 reference strains and isolates. Phylogenetic analysis was made at every step. Two MLST schemes were selected. The first one was based on the analysis of three-gene fragments, and it is suitable for species assignment as well as basic phylogenetic studies. By the addition of seven-genes, an approach based on the analysis of ten-gene fragments was also proposed. This is the first work that two optimized MLST schemes have been suggested, validated against a phylogenetically diverse panel of Leishmania isolates. MLST is potentially a powerful phylogenetic approach, and most probably the new gold standard for Leishmania spp. characterization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan Jose Lauthier
- Parasitology Department, Kochi Medical School, Kochi University, Okocho Kohasu, Nankoku, Kochi Prefecture 783-8505, Japan.
| | - Paula Ruybal
- Universidad de Buenos Aires. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET). Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica (IMPaM). Facultad de Medicina. Paraguay 2155 Piso: 12, CABA (1121). Argentina
| | - Paola Andrea Barroso
- Instituto de Patología Experimental, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Nacional de Salta / CONICET, Salta, Argentina
| | - Yoshihisa Hashiguchi
- Parasitology Department, Kochi Medical School, Kochi University, Okocho Kohasu, Nankoku, Kochi Prefecture 783-8505, Japan; Departamento de Parasitología y Medicina Tropical, Carrera de Medicina, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Católica de Santiago de Guayaquil, Guayaquil, Ecuador
| | - Jorge Diego Marco
- Instituto de Patología Experimental, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Nacional de Salta / CONICET, Salta, Argentina
| | - Masataka Korenaga
- Parasitology Department, Kochi Medical School, Kochi University, Okocho Kohasu, Nankoku, Kochi Prefecture 783-8505, Japan.
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17
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Goonetilleke N, Clutton G, Swanstrom R, Joseph SB. Blocking Formation of the Stable HIV Reservoir: A New Perspective for HIV-1 Cure. Front Immunol 2019; 10:1966. [PMID: 31507594 PMCID: PMC6714000 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2019.01966] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2019] [Accepted: 08/05/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent studies demonstrate that the stable HIV-1 reservoir in resting CD4+ T cells is mostly formed from viruses circulating when combination antiretroviral therapy (ART) is initiated. Here we explore the immunological basis for these observations. Untreated HIV-1 infection is characterized by a progressive depletion of memory CD4+ T cells which mostly express CD127, the α chain of the IL-7 receptor (IL-7R). Depletion results from both direct infection and bystander loss of memory CD4+ T cells in part attributed to dysregulated IL-7/IL-7R signaling. While IL-7/IL7R signaling is not essential for the generation of effector CD4+ T cells from naïve cells, it is essential for the further transition of effectors to memory CD4+ T cells and their subsequent homeostatic maintenance. HIV-1 infection therefore limits the transition of CD4+ T cells from an effector to long-lived memory state. With the onset of ART, virus load (VL) levels rapidly decrease and the frequency of CD127+ CD4+ memory T cells increases, indicating restoration of effector to memory transition in CD4+ T cells. Collectively these data suggest that following ART initiation, HIV-1 infected effector CD4+ T cells transition to long-lived, CD127+ CD4+ T cells forming the majority of the stable HIV-1 reservoir. We propose that combining ART initiation with inhibition of IL-7/IL-7R signaling to block CD4+ T cell memory formation will limit the generation of long-lived HIV-infected CD4+ T cells and reduce the overall size of the stable HIV-1 reservoir.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nilu Goonetilleke
- Department of Microbiology & Immunology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
- UNC HIV-1 Cure Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
| | - Genevieve Clutton
- Department of Microbiology & Immunology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
- UNC HIV-1 Cure Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
| | - Ron Swanstrom
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
- Lineberger Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
| | - Sarah B. Joseph
- Department of Microbiology & Immunology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
- Lineberger Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
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18
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Potential impact of the antirheumatic agent auranofin on proviral HIV-1 DNA in individuals under intensified antiretroviral therapy: Results from a randomised clinical trial. Int J Antimicrob Agents 2019; 54:592-600. [PMID: 31394172 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2019.08.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2019] [Revised: 07/17/2019] [Accepted: 08/01/2019] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Antiretroviral therapy (ART) is typically composed of a combination of three antiretroviral drugs and is the treatment of choice for people with human immunodeficiency virus type 1/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV-1/AIDS). However, it is unable to impact on viral reservoirs, which harbour latent HIV-1 genomes that are able to reignite the infection upon treatment suspension. The aim of this study was to provide an estimate of the safety of the disease-modifying antirheumatic agent auranofin and its impact on the HIV-1 reservoir in humans under intensified ART. For this purpose, an interim analysis was conducted of three of the six arms of the NCT02961829 clinical trial (five patients each) with: no intervention, i.e. continuation of first-line ART; intensified ART (ART + dolutegravir and maraviroc); and intensified ART plus auranofin. Auranofin treatment was found to be well tolerated. No major adverse events were detected apart from a transient decrease in CD4+ T-cell counts at Weeks 8 and 12. Auranofin decreased total viral DNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells compared with ART-only regimens at Week 20 (P = 0.036) and induced a decrease in integrated viral DNA as quantified by Alu PCR. Despite the limited number of patient-derived sequences available in this study, phylogenetic analyses of nef sequences support the idea that auranofin may impact on the viral reservoir. [ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT02961829].
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19
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Liu CC, Ji H. PCR Amplification Strategies Towards Full-length HIV-1 Genome Sequencing. Curr HIV Res 2019; 16:98-105. [PMID: 29943704 DOI: 10.2174/1570162x16666180626152252] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2018] [Revised: 05/05/2018] [Accepted: 06/20/2018] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
The advent of next-generation sequencing has enabled greater resolution of viral diversity and improved feasibility of full viral genome sequencing allowing routine HIV-1 full genome sequencing in both research and diagnostic settings. Regardless of the sequencing platform selected, successful PCR amplification of the HIV-1 genome is essential for sequencing template preparation. As such, full HIV-1 genome amplification is a crucial step in dictating the successful and reliable sequencing downstream. Here we reviewed existing PCR protocols leading to HIV-1 full genome sequencing. In addition to the discussion on basic considerations on relevant PCR design, the advantages as well as the pitfalls of the published protocols were reviewed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chao Chun Liu
- National Microbiology Laboratory at JC Wilt Infectious Diseases Research Center, Public Health Agency of Canada, Winnipeg, Canada
| | - Hezhao Ji
- National Microbiology Laboratory at JC Wilt Infectious Diseases Research Center, Public Health Agency of Canada, Winnipeg, Canada.,Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
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20
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Sambo F, Finotello F, Lavezzo E, Baruzzo G, Masi G, Peta E, Falda M, Toppo S, Barzon L, Di Camillo B. Optimizing PCR primers targeting the bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA gene. BMC Bioinformatics 2018; 19:343. [PMID: 30268091 PMCID: PMC6162885 DOI: 10.1186/s12859-018-2360-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2017] [Accepted: 09/09/2018] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Targeted amplicon sequencing of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene is one of the key tools for studying microbial diversity. The accuracy of this approach strongly depends on the choice of primer pairs and, in particular, on the balance between efficiency, specificity and sensitivity in the amplification of the different bacterial 16S sequences contained in a sample. There is thus the need for computational methods to design optimal bacterial 16S primers able to take into account the knowledge provided by the new sequencing technologies. RESULTS We propose here a computational method for optimizing the choice of primer sets, based on multi-objective optimization, which simultaneously: 1) maximizes efficiency and specificity of target amplification; 2) maximizes the number of different bacterial 16S sequences matched by at least one primer; 3) minimizes the differences in the number of primers matching each bacterial 16S sequence. Our algorithm can be applied to any desired amplicon length without affecting computational performance. The source code of the developed algorithm is released as the mopo16S software tool (Multi-Objective Primer Optimization for 16S experiments) under the GNU General Public License and is available at http://sysbiobig.dei.unipd.it/?q=Software#mopo16S . CONCLUSIONS Results show that our strategy is able to find better primer pairs than the ones available in the literature according to all three optimization criteria. We also experimentally validated three of the primer pairs identified by our method on multiple bacterial species, belonging to different genera and phyla. Results confirm the predicted efficiency and the ability to maximize the number of different bacterial 16S sequences matched by primers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesco Sambo
- Department of Information Engineering, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Francesca Finotello
- Biocenter, Division of Bioinformatics, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Enrico Lavezzo
- Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Giacomo Baruzzo
- Department of Information Engineering, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Giulia Masi
- Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Elektra Peta
- Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Marco Falda
- Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Stefano Toppo
- Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Luisa Barzon
- Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Barbara Di Camillo
- Department of Information Engineering, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
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21
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Dean GH, Asmarayani R, Ardiyani M, Santika Y, Triono T, Mathews S, Webb CO. Generating DNA sequence data with limited resources for molecular biology: Lessons from a barcoding project in Indonesia. APPLICATIONS IN PLANT SCIENCES 2018; 6:e01167. [PMID: 30131909 PMCID: PMC6055555 DOI: 10.1002/aps3.1167] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2017] [Accepted: 05/15/2018] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
The advent of the DNA sequencing age has led to a revolution in biology. The rapid and cost-effective generation of high-quality sequence data has transformed many fields, including those focused on discovering species and surveying biodiversity, monitoring movement of biological materials, forensic biology, and disease diagnostics. There is a need to build capacity to generate useful sequence data in countries with limited historical access to laboratory resources, so that researchers can benefit from the advantages offered by these data. Commonly used molecular techniques such as DNA extraction, PCR, and DNA sequencing are within the reach of small laboratories in many countries, with the main obstacles to successful implementation being lack of funding and limited practical experience. Here we describe a successful approach that we developed to obtain DNA sequence data during a small DNA barcoding project in Indonesia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gillian H. Dean
- Department of BotanyUniversity of British ColumbiaVancouverV6T1Z4British ColumbiaCanada
| | - Rani Asmarayani
- Herbarium BogorienseBotany DivisionResearch Center for BiologyIndonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI)Cibinong16911BogorWest JavaIndonesia
- Present address:
Department of BiologyUniversity of Missouri–St. LouisSt. LouisMissouri63121USA
| | - Marlina Ardiyani
- Herbarium BogorienseBotany DivisionResearch Center for BiologyIndonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI)Cibinong16911BogorWest JavaIndonesia
| | - Yessi Santika
- Herbarium BogorienseBotany DivisionResearch Center for BiologyIndonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI)Cibinong16911BogorWest JavaIndonesia
| | - Teguh Triono
- Herbarium BogorienseBotany DivisionResearch Center for BiologyIndonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI)Cibinong16911BogorWest JavaIndonesia
- Present address:
Zoological Society of London (ZSL) Indonesia ProgramBogor16128Indonesia
| | - Sarah Mathews
- Arnold Arboretum of Harvard UniversityBostonMassachusetts02131USA
- Present address:
CSIROAustralian National HerbariumCanberraAustralian Capital Territory2601Australia
| | - Campbell O. Webb
- Arnold Arboretum of Harvard UniversityBostonMassachusetts02131USA
- Present address:
University of Alaska Museum of the NorthFairbanksAlaska99775USA
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22
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Error rates, PCR recombination, and sampling depth in HIV-1 whole genome deep sequencing. Virus Res 2016; 239:106-114. [PMID: 28039047 DOI: 10.1016/j.virusres.2016.12.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2016] [Revised: 11/25/2016] [Accepted: 12/16/2016] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Deep sequencing is a powerful and cost-effective tool to characterize the genetic diversity and evolution of virus populations. While modern sequencing instruments readily cover viral genomes many thousand fold and very rare variants can in principle be detected, sequencing errors, amplification biases, and other artifacts can limit sensitivity and complicate data interpretation. For this reason, the number of studies using whole genome deep sequencing to characterize viral quasi-species in clinical samples is still limited. We have previously undertaken a large scale whole genome deep sequencing study of HIV-1 populations. Here we discuss the challenges, error profiles, control experiments, and computational test we developed to quantify the accuracy of variant frequency estimation.
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23
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Rutschmann S, Detering H, Simon S, Fredslund J, Monaghan MT. discomark: nuclear marker discovery from orthologous sequences using draft genome data. Mol Ecol Resour 2016; 17:257-266. [PMID: 27454666 DOI: 10.1111/1755-0998.12576] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2016] [Revised: 07/05/2016] [Accepted: 07/11/2016] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
High-throughput sequencing has laid the foundation for fast and cost-effective development of phylogenetic markers. Here we present the program discomark, which streamlines the development of nuclear DNA (nDNA) markers from whole-genome (or whole-transcriptome) sequencing data, combining local alignment, alignment trimming, reference mapping and primer design based on multiple sequence alignments to design primer pairs from input orthologous sequences. To demonstrate the suitability of discomark, we designed markers for two groups of species, one consisting of closely related species and one group of distantly related species. For the closely related members of the species complex of Cloeon dipterum s.l. (Insecta, Ephemeroptera), the program discovered a total of 78 markers. Among these, we selected eight markers for amplification and Sanger sequencing. The exon sequence alignments (2526 base pairs) were used to reconstruct a well-supported phylogeny and to infer clearly structured haplotype networks. For the distantly related species, we designed primers for the insect order Ephemeroptera, using available genomic data from four sequenced species. We developed primer pairs for 23 markers that are designed to amplify across several families. The discomark program will enhance the development of new nDNA markers by providing a streamlined, automated approach to perform genome-scale scans for phylogenetic markers. The program is written in Python, released under a public licence (GNU GPL version 2), and together with a manual and example data set available at: https://github.com/hdetering/discomark.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sereina Rutschmann
- Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 301, 12587, Berlin, Germany.,Berlin Center for Genomics in Biodiversity Research, Königin-Luise-Straße 6-8, 14195, Berlin, Germany.,Department of Biochemistry, Genetics and Immunology, University of Vigo, 36310, Vigo, Spain
| | - Harald Detering
- Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 301, 12587, Berlin, Germany.,Berlin Center for Genomics in Biodiversity Research, Königin-Luise-Straße 6-8, 14195, Berlin, Germany.,Department of Biochemistry, Genetics and Immunology, University of Vigo, 36310, Vigo, Spain
| | - Sabrina Simon
- Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West and 79th St., New York, NY, 10024, USA.,Biosystematics Group, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | | | - Michael T Monaghan
- Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 301, 12587, Berlin, Germany.,Berlin Center for Genomics in Biodiversity Research, Königin-Luise-Straße 6-8, 14195, Berlin, Germany
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24
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O'Halloran DM. PrimerMapper: high throughput primer design and graphical assembly for PCR and SNP detection. Sci Rep 2016; 6:20631. [PMID: 26853558 PMCID: PMC4745053 DOI: 10.1038/srep20631] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2015] [Accepted: 01/06/2016] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Primer design represents a widely employed gambit in diverse molecular applications including PCR, sequencing, and probe hybridization. Variations of PCR, including primer walking, allele-specific PCR, and nested PCR provide specialized validation and detection protocols for molecular analyses that often require screening large numbers of DNA fragments. In these cases, automated sequence retrieval and processing become important features, and furthermore, a graphic that provides the user with a visual guide to the distribution of designed primers across targets is most helpful in quickly ascertaining primer coverage. To this end, I describe here, PrimerMapper, which provides a comprehensive graphical user interface that designs robust primers from any number of inputted sequences while providing the user with both, graphical maps of primer distribution for each inputted sequence, and also a global assembled map of all inputted sequences with designed primers. PrimerMapper also enables the visualization of graphical maps within a browser and allows the user to draw new primers directly onto the webpage. Other features of PrimerMapper include allele-specific design features for SNP genotyping, a remote BLAST window to NCBI databases, and remote sequence retrieval from GenBank and dbSNP. PrimerMapper is hosted at GitHub and freely available without restriction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Damien M O'Halloran
- Department of Biological Sciences, The George Washington University, Science and Engineering Hall 6000, 800 22nd St. N.W. Washington DC 20052, USA.,Institute for Neuroscience, The George Washington University, 636 Ross Hall, 2300 I St. N.W. Washington DC 20052, USA
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25
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Zanini F, Brodin J, Thebo L, Lanz C, Bratt G, Albert J, Neher RA. Population genomics of intrapatient HIV-1 evolution. eLife 2015; 4:e11282. [PMID: 26652000 PMCID: PMC4718817 DOI: 10.7554/elife.11282] [Citation(s) in RCA: 139] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2015] [Accepted: 12/08/2015] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Many microbial populations rapidly adapt to changing environments with multiple variants competing for survival. To quantify such complex evolutionary dynamics in vivo, time resolved and genome wide data including rare variants are essential. We performed whole-genome deep sequencing of HIV-1 populations in 9 untreated patients, with 6-12 longitudinal samples per patient spanning 5-8 years of infection. The data can be accessed and explored via an interactive web application. We show that patterns of minor diversity are reproducible between patients and mirror global HIV-1 diversity, suggesting a universal landscape of fitness costs that control diversity. Reversions towards the ancestral HIV-1 sequence are observed throughout infection and account for almost one third of all sequence changes. Reversion rates depend strongly on conservation. Frequent recombination limits linkage disequilibrium to about 100 bp in most of the genome, but strong hitch-hiking due to short range linkage limits diversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabio Zanini
- Evolutionary Dynamics and Biophysics, Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Johanna Brodin
- Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Lina Thebo
- Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Christa Lanz
- Evolutionary Dynamics and Biophysics, Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Göran Bratt
- Department of Clinical Science and Education, Stockholm South General Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Jan Albert
- Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Clinical Microbiology, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Richard A Neher
- Evolutionary Dynamics and Biophysics, Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Tübingen, Germany
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Abstract
Design of primers and probes is one of the most crucial factors affecting the success and quality of quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) analyses, since an accurate and reliable quantification depends on using efficient primers and probes. Design of primers and probes should meet several criteria to find potential primers and probes for specific qPCR assays. The formation of primer-dimers and other non-specific products should be avoided or reduced. This factor is especially important when designing primers for SYBR(®) Green protocols but also in designing probes to ensure specificity of the developed qPCR protocol. To design primers and probes for qPCR, multiple software programs and websites are available being numerous of them free. These tools often consider the default requirements for primers and probes, although new research advances in primer and probe design should be progressively added to different algorithm programs. After a proper design, a precise validation of the primers and probes is necessary. Specific consideration should be taken into account when designing primers and probes for multiplex qPCR and reverse transcription qPCR (RT-qPCR). This chapter provides guidelines for the design of suitable primers and probes and their subsequent validation through the development of singlex qPCR, multiplex qPCR, and RT-qPCR protocols.
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Longitudinal Antigenic Sequences and Sites from Intra-Host Evolution (LASSIE) Identifies Immune-Selected HIV Variants. Viruses 2015; 7:5443-75. [PMID: 26506369 PMCID: PMC4632389 DOI: 10.3390/v7102881] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2015] [Revised: 10/01/2015] [Accepted: 10/05/2015] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Within-host genetic sequencing from samples collected over time provides a dynamic view of how viruses evade host immunity. Immune-driven mutations might stimulate neutralization breadth by selecting antibodies adapted to cycles of immune escape that generate within-subject epitope diversity. Comprehensive identification of immune-escape mutations is experimentally and computationally challenging. With current technology, many more viral sequences can readily be obtained than can be tested for binding and neutralization, making down-selection necessary. Typically, this is done manually, by picking variants that represent different time-points and branches on a phylogenetic tree. Such strategies are likely to miss many relevant mutations and combinations of mutations, and to be redundant for other mutations. Longitudinal Antigenic Sequences and Sites from Intrahost Evolution (LASSIE) uses transmitted founder loss to identify virus "hot-spots" under putative immune selection and chooses sequences that represent recurrent mutations in selected sites. LASSIE favors earliest sequences in which mutations arise. With well-characterized longitudinal Env sequences, we confirmed selected sites were concentrated in antibody contacts and selected sequences represented diverse antigenic phenotypes. Practical applications include rapidly identifying immune targets under selective pressure within a subject, selecting minimal sets of reagents for immunological assays that characterize evolving antibody responses, and for immunogens in polyvalent "cocktail" vaccines.
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Yoon H, Leitner T. PrimerDesign-M: a multiple-alignment based multiple-primer design tool for walking across variable genomes. Bioinformatics 2014; 31:1472-4. [PMID: 25524896 DOI: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btu832] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2014] [Accepted: 12/11/2014] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
SUMMARY Analyses of entire viral genomes or mtDNA requires comprehensive design of many primers across their genomes. Furthermore, simultaneous optimization of several DNA primer design criteria may improve overall experimental efficiency and downstream bioinformatic processing. To achieve these goals, we developed PrimerDesign-M. It includes several options for multiple-primer design, allowing researchers to efficiently design walking primers that cover long DNA targets, such as entire HIV-1 genomes, and that optimizes primers simultaneously informed by genetic diversity in multiple alignments and experimental design constraints given by the user. PrimerDesign-M can also design primers that include DNA barcodes and minimize primer dimerization. PrimerDesign-M finds optimal primers for highly variable DNA targets and facilitates design flexibility by suggesting alternative designs to adapt to experimental conditions. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION PrimerDesign-M is available as a webtool at http://www.hiv.lanl.gov/content/sequence/PRIMER_DESIGN/primer_design.html CONTACT tkl@lanl.gov or seq-info@lanl.gov.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hyejin Yoon
- Theoretical Biology and Biophysics Group, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA
| | - Thomas Leitner
- Theoretical Biology and Biophysics Group, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA
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Herrera-Galeano JE, Frey KG, Cer RZ, Mateczun AJ, Bishop-Lilly KA, Mokashi VP. BLASTPLOT: a PERL module to plot next generation sequencing NCBI-BLAST results. SOURCE CODE FOR BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE 2014; 9:7. [PMID: 24685334 PMCID: PMC3974413 DOI: 10.1186/1751-0473-9-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2013] [Accepted: 03/22/2014] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Background The development of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) during the last decade has created an unprecedented amount of sequencing data, as well as the ability to rapidly sequence specimens of interest. Read-based BLAST analysis of NGS data is a common procedure especially in the case of metagenomic samples. However, coverage is usually not enough to allow for de novo assembly. This type of read-based analysis often creates the question of how the reads that align to the same sequence are distributed. The same question applies to preparation of primers or probes for microarray experiments. Although there are several packages that allow the visualization of DNA segments in relation to a reference, in most cases they require the visualization of one reference at a time and the capture of screen shots for each segment. Such a procedure could be tedious and time consuming. The field is in need of a solution that automates the capture of coverage plots for all the segments of interest. Results We have created BLASTPLOT, a PERL module to quickly plot the BLAST results from short sequences (primers, probes, reads) against reference targets. Conclusions BLASTPLOT is a simple to use PERL module that allows the generation of PNG graphs for all the reference sequences associated with a BLAST result set.
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