Detection of SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.529 (Omicron) variant by SYBR Green-based RT-qPCR.

ABSTRACT: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is unceasingly spreading across the globe, and recently a highly transmissible Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant (B.1.1.529) has been discovered in South Africa and Botswana. Rapid identification of this variant is essential for pandemic assessment and containment. However, variant identification is mainly being performed using expensive and time-consuming genomic sequencing. In this study, we propose an alternative RT-qPCR approach for the detection of the Omicron BA.1 variant using a low-cost and rapid SYBR Green method. We have designed specific primers to confirm the deletion mutations in the spike (S Δ143-145) and the nucleocapsid (N Δ31-33) which are characteristics of this variant. For the evaluation, we used 120 clinical samples from patien

SUBMITTER: Abdel-Sater F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11055497 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature