DeepSARS: simultaneous diagnostic detection and genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2

ABSTRACT

The continued spread of SARS-CoV-2 and emergence of new variants with higher transmission rates and/or partial resistance to vaccines has further highlighted the need for large-scale testing and genomic surveillance. However, current diagnostic testing (e.g., PCR) and genomic surveillance methods (e.g., whole genome sequencing) are performed separately, thus limiting the detection and tracing of SARS-CoV-2 and emerging variants. Here, we developed DeepSARS, a high-throughput platform for simultaneous diagnostic detection and genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 by the integration of molecular barcoding, targeted deep sequencing, and computational phylogenetics. DeepSARS enables highly sensitive viral detection, while also capturing genomic diversity and viral evolution. We show that DeepSARS can be rapidly adapted for identification of emerging variants, such as alpha, beta, gamma, and delta strains, and profile mutational changes at the population level. DeepSARS sets the foundation for quantitative diagnostics that capture viral evolution and diversity. O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=152 SRC="FIGDIR/small/21262126v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (31K) org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@befa4corg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@22d496org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@b2da7dorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@265657_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG O_FLOATNOGraphical abstractC_FLOATNO DeepSARS uses molecular barcodes (BCs) and multiplexed targeted deep sequencing (NGS) to enable simultaneous diagnostic detection and genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2. C_FIG