Raw signals of nucleotides in the S gene of 12 SARS-COV-2 strains

The surveillance of the SARS-CoV-2 genome has become one of the crucial
techniques in the management of COVID-19, aiding the pandemic response and
supporting effective public health interventions. Typically, whole genomic
sequencing is used along with PCR-based target enrichment techniques to
identify SARS-CoV-2 variants, which is a complicated and time-consuming
process that requires central laboratory facilities. Thus, there is an
urgent requirement for developing rapid and cost-effective tools that can
precisely detect and identify SARS-CoV-2 strains on-site. In this study,
we demonstrate the diagnosis of COVID-19 patients and rapid identification
of SARS-CoV-2 variants by amplifying and sequencing the entire length of
the SARS-CoV-2 S gene using an isothermal enzymatic recombinase
amplification combined with the most advanced Oxford nanopore sequencing.
The entire procedure, from sampling to sequencing, takes less than 8 hours
and can be performed with limited resources. The newly developed method
has noteworthy implications for examining the transmission dynamics of the
virus, detecting novel genetic variants, and assessing how mutations
affect the efficiency of diagnostic approaches, antiviral treatments, and
vaccines.