Efficient concentration of viral nucleic acid in wastewater through surfactant releasing and a two-step magnetic bead extraction and purification.

Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is a valuable complement to clinical monitoring, allowing for effective surveillance of viral infections in populations, and tracking the presence and the epidemiological dynamics of various infectious pathogens in communities. However, virus loads are usually low-abundant in wastewater, and current virus concentration methods for WBE are laborious and time-consuming with low recovery efficiency. To address these challenges, we have developed a magnetic bead-based semi-automated method involving extraction and purification to directly concentrate viral nucleic acids from sewage within 55 min. Prior to concentration, 0.5 % LDS was introduced to pretreat wastewater to inactivate viruses and release viral nucleic acids from both liquid and solid fractions to improve recovery. Under optimal conditions, the concentration method combined with reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) can detect severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA added exogenously in wastewater as low as 4.9 copies/mL within 2.5 h, with an average recovery rate exceeding 80 %. Testing real sewages proved the applicability of the method to detect multiple viruses in different sewages. Additionally, variants of SARS-CoV-2 were successfully identified by multiplex amplicon sequencing in two samples. In conclusion, the new method could provide a much more efficient way for WBE of pathogenic viruses in various sewages.

Outer membrane vesicles generated by an exogenous bacteriophage lysin and protection against Acinetobacter baumannii infection.

BACKGROUND: The outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) produced by Gram-negative bacteria can modulate the immune system and have great potentials for bacterial vaccine development. RESULTS: A highly active Acinetobacter baumannii phage lysin, LysP53, can stimulate the production of OMVs after interacting with A. baumannii, Escherichia coli, and Salmonella. The OMVs prepared by the lysin (LOMVs) from A. baumannii showed better homogeneity, higher protein yield, lower endotoxin content, and lower cytotoxicity compared to the naturally produced OMVs (nOMVs). The LOMVs contain a significantly higher number of cytoplasmic and cytoplasmic membrane proteins but a smaller number of periplasmic and extracellular proteins compared to nOMVs. Intramuscular immunization with either LOMVs or nOMVs three times provided robust protection against A. baumannii infections in both pneumonia and bacteremia mouse models. Intranasal immunization offered good protection in the pneumonia model but weaker protection (20-40%) in the bacteremia model. However, with a single immunization, LOMVs demonstrated better protection than the nOMVs in the pneumonia mouse model. CONCLUSIONS: The novel lysin approach provides a superior choice compared to current methods for OMV production, especially for vaccine development.

Phage-Bacterial Interaction Alters Phenotypes Associated with Virulence in Acinetobacter baumannii.

Bacteriophages exert strong selection on their bacterial hosts to evolve resistance. At the same time, the fitness costs on bacteria following phage resistance may change their virulence, which may affect the therapeutic outcomes of phage therapy. In this study, we set out to assess the costs of phage resistance on the in vitro virulence of priority 1 nosocomial pathogenic bacterium, Acinetobacter baumannii. By subjecting phage-resistant variant Ev5-WHG of A. baumannii WHG40004 to several in vitro virulence profiles, we found that its resistance to phage is associated with reduced fitness in host microenvironments. Also, the mutant exhibited impaired adhesion and invasion to mammalian cells, as well as increased susceptibility to macrophage phagocytosis. Furthermore, the whole-genome sequencing of the mutant revealed that there exist multiple mutations which may play a role in phage resistance and altered virulence. Altogether, this study demonstrates that resistance to phage can significantly alter phenotypes associated with virulence in Acinetobacter baumannii.

Rapid and sensitive detection of SARS-CoV-2 IgM through luciferase luminescence on an automatic platform.

SARS-CoV-2 has brought a global health crisis worldwide. IgM is an early marker in sera after the infections, and the detection of IgM is crucial to assist diagnosis and evaluate the vaccination clinically. Herein, we developed an automated platform to identify IgM against SARS-CoV-2 in sera. Streptavidin-magnetic beads were utilized to bind to a biotinylated anti-IgM antibody, which was employed to capture IgM in sera. RBD fused luciferase hGluc was employed to label the trapped IgM against RBD and the signal of luminescence of hGluc with the substrate of coelenterazine corresponded to the amount of SARS-CoV-2 IgM conjugated to the magnetic beads. An appropriate cut-off value of the designed method was defined by a set of negative samples and positive samples with 100 % sensitivity and 100 % specificity. Through serial dilution of a positive sample, it was found that the method has a better sensitivity than ELISA. The application to determine IgM against SARS-CoV-2 demonstrated a good performance of the method. The developed system can complete the analysis of SARS-CoV-2 IgM within 25 min. Through the substitution of RBD antigen with antigens of other pathogens in this platform, the automated detection of IgM against the corresponding pathogens can be realized.

Fast and Ultrasensitive Detection of Monkeypox by a Pyrococcus furiosus Argonaute System Coupled with a Short Amplification.

Monkeypox virus (MPXV), the pathogen responsible for the infectious disease monkeypox, causes lesions on the skin, lymphadenopathy, and fever. It has posed a global public health threat since May 2022. Highly sensitive and specific detection of MPXV is crucial for preventing the spread of the disease. Pyrococcus furiosus Argonaute (PfAgo) is an artificial DNA-guided restriction cleavage enzyme programmable with 5'-phosphorylated ssDNA sequences, which can be developed to specifically detect nucleic acids of pathogens. Here, a PfAgo-based system was established for the detection of MPXV-specific DNA targeting the F3L gene. A short amplicon of 79 bp could be obtained through a fast PCR procedure, which was completed within 45 min. Two 5'-phosphorylation guide DNAs were designed to guide PfAgo to cleave the amplicon to obtain an 18 bp 5'-phosphorylation sequence specific to MPXV, not to other orthopoxviruses (cowpox, variola, and vaccinia viruses). The 18 bp sequence guided PfAgo to cleave a designed probe specific to MPXV to emit fluorescence. With optimized conditions for the PfAgo-MPXV system, it could be completed in 60 min for the detection of the extracted MPXV DNA with the limit of detection (LOD) of 1.1 copies/reaction and did not depend on expensive instruments. Successful application of the PfAgo-MPXV system in sensitively detecting MPXV in simulated throat swabs, skin swabs, sera, and wastewater demonstrated the system's good performance. The PfAgo platform, with high sensitivity and specificity established here, has the potential to prevent the spread of MPXV.

PHDtools: A platform for pathogen detection and multi-dimensional genetic signatures decoding to realize pathogen genomics data analyses online.

OBJECTIVES: Facing the emerging diseases, rapid identification of the pathogen and multi-dimensional characterization of the genomic features at both isolate-level and population-level through high-throughput sequencing data can provide invaluable information to guide the development of antiviral agents and strategies. However, a user-friendly program is in urgent need for clinical laboratories without bioinformatics background to decode the complex big genomics data. METHODS: In this study, we developed an interactive online platform named PHDtools with a total of 15 functions to analyze metagenomics data to identify the potential pathogen and decode multi-dimensional genetic signatures including intra-/inter-host variations and lineage-level variations. The platform was applied to analyze the meta-genomic data of the samples collected from the 172 imported COVID-19 cases. RESULTS: According to the analytical results of mNGS, 27 patients were found to have the co-infections of SARS-CoV-2 with either influenza virus (n = 9) or human picobirnavirus (n = 19). Enough coverages of all the assembled SARS-CoV-2 genomes provided the sub-lineages of Omicron variant, and the number of mutations in the non-structural genes and M gene was increased, as well as the intra-host variations occurred in E and M gene were under positive selection (Ka/Ks > 1). These findings of increased or changed mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 genome characterized the current adaptive evolution patterns of Omicron sub-lineages, and revealed the evolution speed of these sub-lineages might increase. CONCLUSIONS: Consequently, the application of PHDtools has proved that this platform is accurate, user-friendly and convenient for clinical users who are deficient in bioinformatics, and the clinical monitor of SARS-CoV-2 genomes by PHDtools also highlighted the potential evolution features of current SARS-CoV-2 and indicated that the development of anti-SARS-CoV-2 agents and new-designed vaccines should incorporate the gene variations other than S gene.

Chrysin 7-O-ß-D-glucuronide, a dual inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro and PLpro, for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19.

The emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) resulted in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Given the advent of subvariants, there is an urgent need to develop novel drugs. The aim of this study was to find SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors from Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi targeting the proteases 3CLpro and PLpro. After screening 25 flavonoids, chrysin 7-O-ß-D-glucuronide was found to be a potent inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 on Vero E6 cells, with half-maximal effective concentration of 8.72 µM. Surface plasmon resonance assay, site-directed mutagenesis and enzymatic activity measurements indicated that chrysin-7-O-ß-D-glucuronide inhibits SARS-CoV-2 by binding to H41 of 3CLpro, and K157 and E167 of PLpro. Hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry analysis showed that chrysin-7-O-ß-D-glucuronide changes the conformation of PLpro. Finally, chrysin 7-O-ß-D-glucuronide was shown to have anti-inflammatory activity, mainly due to reduction of the levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-1ß and IL-6.

Combining hybrid nanoflowers with hybridization chain reaction for highly sensitive detection of SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic has had enormous social and economic impacts so far. The nucleocapsid protein (N protein) is highly conserved and is a key antigenic marker for the diagnosis of early SARS-CoV-2 infection. RESULTS: In this study, the N protein was first captured by an aptamer (Aptamer 58) coupled to magnetic beads (MBs), which in turn were bound to another DNA sequence containing the aptamer (Aptamer 48-Initiator). After adding 5'-biotinylated hairpin DNA Amplifier 1 and Amplifier 2 with cohesive ends for complementary hybridization, the Initiator in the Aptamer 48-Initiator began to trigger the hybridization chain reaction (HCR), generating multiple biotin-labeled DNA concatamers. When incubated with synthetic streptavidin-invertase-Ca3(PO4)2 hybrid nanoflower (SICa), DNA concatamers could specifically bind to SICa through biotin-streptavidin interaction with high affinity. After adding sucrose, invertase in SICa hydrolyzed sucrose to glucose, whose concentration could be directly read with a portable glucometer, and its concentration was positively correlated with the amount of captured N protein. The method is highly sensitive with a detection limit as low as 1 pg/mL. SIGNIFICANCE: We believe this study provided a practical solution for the early detection of SARS-CoV-2 infection, and offered a new method for detecting other viruses through different target proteins.

Discovering covalent inhibitors of protein-protein interactions from trillions of sulfur(VI) fluoride exchange-modified oligonucleotides.

Molecules that covalently engage target proteins are widely used as activity-based probes and covalent drugs. The performance of these covalent inhibitors is, however, often compromised by the paradox of efficacy and risk, which demands a balance between reactivity and selectivity. The challenge is more evident when targeting protein-protein interactions owing to their low ligandability and undefined reactivity. Here we report sulfur(VI) fluoride exchange (SuFEx) in vitro selection, a general platform for high-throughput discovery of covalent inhibitors from trillions of SuFEx-modified oligonucleotides. With SuFEx in vitro selection, we identified covalent inhibitors that cross-link distinct residues of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein at its protein-protein interaction interface with the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2. A separate suite of covalent inhibitors was isolated for the human complement C5 protein. In both cases, we observed a clear disconnection between binding affinity and cross-linking reactivity, indicating that direct search for the aimed reactivity-as enabled by SuFEx in vitro selection-is vital for discovering covalent inhibitors of high selectivity and potency.

LysP53 activity against Salmonella and its application in decontamination of Salmonella on fresh romaine lettuce.

Salmonella is a zoonotic pathogen that is commonly associated with foodborne disease outbreaks. This study found that a newly identified Gram-negative lysin LysP53 had good activity against a wide range of Salmonella, including Salmonella Newington, Salmonella Typhimurium, and Salmonella Dublin. Without the help of an outer membrane permeabilizer, 4 µM LysP53 could reduce 97.6% of planktonic Salmonella Enteritidis and 90% of the bacteria in biofilms. Moreover, LysP53 was highly thermostable because it maintained >90% activity even after exposure to temperatures up to 95 °C. Although high concentrations of salts could reduce the activity, LysP53 was found safe for oral gavage of mice without affecting body weights and cytokines in sera and able to reduce 90% of Salmonella Enteritidis loads on fresh romaine lettuce after 30 min of treatment. Because of its good activity against a wide range of bacteria, thermal stability, safe for oral administration, LysP53 could be used as a biocontrol agent for reducing bacterial loads in fresh vegetable food. KEY POINTS: • Lysin LysP53 has high bactericidal activity against Salmonella. • LysP53 is thermostable even at high temperature of up to 95 °C. • LysP53 can be used for topical decontamination of Salmonella on vegetables.

Licorice-saponin A3 is a broad-spectrum inhibitor for COVID-19 by targeting viral spike and anti-inflammation.

Currently, human health due to corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been seriously threatened. The coronavirus severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike (S) protein plays a crucial role in virus transmission and several S-based therapeutic approaches have been approved for the treatment of COVID-19. However, the efficacy is compromised by the SARS-CoV-2 evolvement and mutation. Here we report the SARS-CoV-2 S protein receptor-binding domain (RBD) inhibitor licorice-saponin A3 (A3) could widely inhibit RBD of SARS-CoV-2 variants, including Beta, Delta, and Omicron BA.1, XBB and BQ1.1. Furthermore, A3 could potently inhibit SARS-CoV-2 Omicron virus in Vero E6 cells, with EC50 of 1.016 µM. The mechanism was related with binding with Y453 of RBD determined by hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry (HDX-MS) analysis combined with quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) simulations. Interestingly, phosphoproteomics analysis and multi fluorescent immunohistochemistry (mIHC) respectively indicated that A3 also inhibits host inflammation by directly modulating the JNK and p38 MAPK pathways and rebalancing the corresponding immune dysregulation. This work supports A3 as a promising broad-spectrum small molecule drug candidate for COVID-19.

Rapid and Accurate Detection of SARS-CoV-2 Using an iPad-Controlled, High-Throughput, Portable, and Multiplex Hive-Chip Platform (HiCube).

Rapid and accurate detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is one of the most effective measures to control the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. However, there is still lack of an ideal detection platform capable of high sample throughput, portability, and multiplicity. Herein, by combining Hive-Chip (capillary microarray) and reverse transcriptional loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP), we developed an iPad-controlled, high-throughput (48 samples at one run), portable (smaller than a backpack), multiplex (monitoring 8 gene fragments in one reaction), and real-time detection platform for SARS-CoV-2 detection. This platform is composed of a portable Hive-Chip device (HiCube; 32.7 × 29.7 × 20 cm, 5 kg), custom-designed software, and optimized Hive-Chips. RT-LAMP primers targeting seven SARS-CoV-2 genes (S, E, M, N, ORF1ab, ORF3a, and ORF7a) and one positive control (human RNase P) were designed and prefixed in the Hive-Chip. On-chip RT-LAMP showed that the limit of detection (LOD) of SARS-CoV-2 synthetic RNAs is 1 copy/µL, and there is no cross-reaction among different target genes. The platform was validated by 100 clinical samples of SARS-CoV-2, and the results were highly consistent with those of the traditional real-time PCR assay. In addition, on-chip detection of 6 other respiratory pathogens showed no cross-reactivity. Overall, our platform has great potential for fast, accurate, and on-site detection of SARS-CoV-2.

Calcium-binding motif-mediated binding of redundant calcium offers a chimeolysin enhanced bactericidal activity and extended host range under physiological conditions.

OBJECTIVES: Calcium-binding motifs are shared by multiple bacteriophage lysins; however, the influence of calcium on the enzymatic activity and host range of these enzymes is still not understood. To address this, ClyF, a chimeric lysin with a putative calcium-binding motif, was used as a model for in vitro and in vivo investigations. METHODS: The concentration of calcium bound to ClyF was determined by atomic absorption spectrometry. The influence of calcium on the structure, activity and host range of ClyF was assessed by circular dichroism and time-kill assays. The bactericidal activity of ClyF was evaluated in various sera and a mouse model of Streptococcus agalactiae bacteraemia. RESULTS: ClyF has a highly negatively charged surface around the calcium-binding motif that can bind extra calcium, thereby increasing the avidity of ClyF for the negatively charged bacterial cell wall. In line with this, ClyF exhibited significantly enhanced staphylolytic and streptolytic activity in various sera containing physiological calcium, including human serum, heat-inactivated human serum, mouse serum and rabbit serum. In a mouse model of S. agalactiae bacteraemia, intraperitoneal administration of a single dose of 25 µg/mouse ClyF fully protected the mice from lethal infection. CONCLUSIONS: The present data collectively showed that physiological calcium improves the bactericidal activity and host range of ClyF, making it a promising candidate for the treatment of infections caused by multiple staphylococci and streptococci.

A luciferase based automated assay for rapid and sensitive detection of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies.

The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic brings great challenges to the public health and social economics around the world. As the pandemic continues and the mass vaccination goes on, monitoring the antibodies is particularly important for the epidemiological survey and vaccine assessment. Here, we developed a luciferase immunoprecipitation assay combined with an automated platform to detect anti-Receptor Binding Domain (RBD) antibody, where protein A and protein G modified magnetic beads were used to capture antibodies in serum samples and SARS-CoV-2 RBD was fused with Gaussia luciferase to label the captured target antibodies. The whole detection procedure can be completed within 20 min. The developed assay has proven up to 32 times more sensitive than ELISA for the detection of RBD antibodies. Furthermore, the results of the antibody detection of sera from vaccination as well as convalescence displayed good performance. The automated platform may provide a powerful tool for the control of COVID-19 pandemic by vaccination and the research of SARS-CoV-2 seroconversion.

Phage-bacterial evolutionary interactions: experimental models and complications.

Phage treatment of bacterial infections has offered some hope even as the crisis of antimicrobial resistance continues to be on the rise. However, bacterial resistance to phage is another looming challenge capable of undermining the effectiveness of phage therapy. Moreover, the consideration of including phage therapy in modern medicine calls for more careful research around every aspect of phage study. In an attempt to adequately prepare for the events of phage resistance, many studies have attempted to experimentally evolve phage resistance in different bacterial strains, as well as train phages to evolve counter-infectivity of resistant bacterial mutants, in view of answering such questions as coevolutionary dynamics between phage and bacteria, mechanisms of phage resistance, fitness costs of phage resistance on bacteria, etc. In this review, we summarised many such studies and by careful examination, highlighted critical issues to the outcome of phage therapy. We also discuss the insufficiency of many of these in vitro studies to represent actual disease conditions during phage application, alongside other complications that exist in phage-bacterial evolutionary interactions. Conclusively, we present the exploitation of phage-bacterial interactions for successful infection managements, as well as some future perspectives to direct phage research.

Longitudinal neutralization activities on authentic Omicron variant provided by three doses of BBIBP-CorV vaccination during one year.

The majority of people in China have been immunized with the inactivated viral vaccine BBIBP-CorV. The emergence of the Omicron variant raised the concerns about protection efficacy of the inactivated viral vaccine in China. However, longitudinal neutralization data describing protection efficacy against Omicron variant is still lacking. Here we present one-year longitudinal neutralization data of BBIBP-CorV on authentic Omicron, Delta, and wild-type strains using 224 sera collected from 14 volunteers who have finished three doses BBIBP-CorV. The sera were also subjected for monitoring the SARS-CoV-2 specific IgG, IgA, and IgM responses on protein and peptide microarrays. The neutralization titers showed different protection efficacies against the three strains. By incorporating IgG and IgA signals of proteins and Spike protein derived peptide on microarray, panels as potential surrogate biomarkers for rapid estimation of neutralization titers were established. These data support the necessity of the 3rd dose of BBIBP-CorV vaccination. After further validation and assay development, the panels could be used for reliable, convenient and fast evaluation of the efficacy of vaccination.

A triton X-100 assisted PMAxx-qPCR assay for rapid assessment of infectious African swine fever virus.

Introduction: African Swine Fever (ASF) is a highly infectious disease of pigs, caused by African swine fever virus (ASFV). The lack of vaccines and drugs makes strict disinfection practices to be one of the main measurements to curb the transmission of ASF. Therefore, it is important to assess if all viruses are inactivated after disinfection or after long time exposure in their natural conditions. Currently, the infectivity of ASFV is determined by virus isolation and culture in a biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) laboratory. However, BSL-3 laboratories are not readily available, need skilled expertise and may be time consuming. Methods: In this study, a Triton X-100 assisted PMAxx-qPCR method was developed for rapid assessment of infectious ASFV in samples. PMAxx, an improved version of propidium monoazide (PMA), can covalently cross-link with naked ASFV-DNA or DNA inside inactivated ASFV virions under assistance of 0.1% (v/v) TritonX-100, but not with ASFV-DNA inside live virions. Formation of PMAxx-DNA conjugates prevents PCR amplification, leaving only infectious virions to be detected. Under optimum conditions, the limit of detection of the PMAxx-qPCR assay was 2.32log10HAD50/mL of infectious ASFV. Testing different samples showed that the PMAxx-qPCR assay was effective to evaluate intact ASFV virions after treatment by heat or chemical disinfectants and in simulated samples such as swine tissue homogenate, swine saliva swabs, and environmental swabs. However, whole-blood and saliva need to be diluted before testing because they may inhibit the PCR reaction or the cross-linking of PMAxx with DNA. Conclusion: The Triton X-100 assisted PMAxx-qPCR assay took less than 3 h from sample to result, offering an easier and faster way for assessing infectious ASFV in samples from places like pig farms and pork markets.

Distribution of intra-host variations and mutations in the genomes of SARS-CoV-2 and their implications on detection and therapeutics.

The ongoing circulation of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs) has caused global concerns, because VOCs could escape current vaccines, antiviral drugs, and diagnosis. Analyzing mutations and intra-host diversities in different and widespread VOCs can provide important insights to virus adaptive evolution and validity of vaccines, antiviral drugs, and diagnosis. In this study, by analyzing 1744 high-throughput sequencing data for intra-host single-nucleotide variations (iSNVs) and 3,668,205 genome sequences for mutations in different VOCs, it was found that Omicron variant is still evolving at high speed, especially having high iSNVs frequency in its S and N genes. The efficacies of antibodies or detection primers targeting these two genes are at high risks to be invalid. Instead, highly conserved regions such as NSP8 gene could be better therapeutic and detection targets. Furthermore, mutations in later VOCs could be traced to the minor alleles in the previous variant samples such as Alpha and Delta in different countries. Finally, it was found that mutations C14408T in RdRp and A18163G in NSP14 gene might be associated with the higher genetic diversity in Omicron. Our findings not only contribute to understanding the adaptive evolution of SARS-CoV-2 VOCs, but also provide useful information for both drugs and diagnostic kits development.

Increased pathogenicity and aerosol transmission for one SARS-CoV-2 B.1.617.2 Delta variant over the wild-type strain in hamsters.

During the two-year pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), its causative agent, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has been evolving. SARS-CoV-2 Delta, a variant of concern, has become the dominant circulating strain worldwide within just a few months. Here, we performed a comprehensive analysis of a new B.1.617.2 Delta strain (Delta630) compared with the early WIV04 strain (WIV04) in vitro and in vivo, in terms of replication, infectivity, pathogenicity, and transmission in hamsters. When inoculated intranasally, Delta630 led to more pronounced weight loss and more severe disease in hamsters. Moreover, 40% mortality occurred about one week after infection with 104 â€‹PFU of Delta630, whereas no deaths occurred even after infection with 105 â€‹PFU of WIV04 or other strains belonging to the Delta variant. Moreover, Delta630 outgrew over WIV04 in the competitive aerosol transmission experiment. Taken together, the Delta630 strain showed increased replication ability, pathogenicity, and transmissibility over WIV04 in hamsters. To our knowledge, this is the first SARS-CoV-2 strain that causes death in a hamster model, which could be an asset for the efficacy evaluation of vaccines and antivirals against infections of SARS-CoV-2 Delta strains. The underlying molecular mechanisms of increased virulence and transmission await further analysis.