Abstract
As the SARS-CoV-2 virus evolves, mutations may result in diminished sensitivity to qRTPCR diagnostic assays. We investigated four polymorphisms circulating in the SARS-CoV-2 Delta lineage that result in N gene target failure (NGTF) on the TaqPath COVID-19 Combo Kit. These mutations were detected from the SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences that matched with the diagnostic assay results of saliva specimens. Full length N genes from the samples displaying NGTF were cloned into plasmids and assayed using three SARS-CoV-2 qRT-PCR assays. These constructs resulted in reduced sensitivity to the TaqPath COVID-19 Combo Kit compared to the controls (mean Ct differences of 3.06, 7.70, 12.46, and 14.12), but were detected equivalently on the TaqPath COVID-19 Fast PCR Combo 2.0 or CDC 2019_nCoV_N2 assays. This work highlights the importance of genomic sequencing to monitor circulating mutations and provide guidance in improving diagnostic assays.
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | 1316 |
Journal | Viruses |
Volume | 14 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 2022 |
Keywords
- COVID-19
- N gene dropout
- SARS-CoV-2
- delta variant
- qRT-PCR
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Infectious Diseases
- Virology