Whole-genome sequencing of viral DNA from clinical samples with minimal amplification

We report on the application of target enrichment by hybridisation to recover and deep-sequence low copy-number highly cell associated human herpesvirus genomes directly from clinical samples including saliva, blood, vesicle and cerebrospinal fluid, and tumour cell lines. We demonstrate the utility of this method for accurately mapping diversity in viral populations at high resolution, demonstrating that herpesvirus populations are polyclonal in clinical samples.