Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38833323›Full record

ArticleBriefings in bioinformatics2024

Efficient SARS-CoV-2 variant detection and monitoring with Spike Screen next-generation sequencing.

Alen Suljič, Tomaž Mark Zorec, Samo Zakotnik, Doroteja Vlaj, Rok Kogoj, Nataša Knap, Miroslav Petrovec, Mario Poljak, Tatjana Avšič-Županc, Miša Korva

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Briefings in bioinformatics, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Improving public health laboratory preparedness at European Union level: learning points from experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin · 2026
    Article
  2. SpikeID: Rapid and unbiased identification of SARS-CoV-2 variants by spike sequencing.Journal of clinical virology : the official publication of the Pan American Society for Clinical Virology · 2025
    Article
  3. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Alen SuljičInstitute of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Zaloška cesta 4, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.ORCID 0000-0002-4596-7931
Tomaž Mark ZorecInstitute of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Zaloška cesta 4, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Samo ZakotnikInstitute of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Zaloška cesta 4, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Doroteja VlajInstitute of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Zaloška cesta 4, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Rok KogojInstitute of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Zaloška cesta 4, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Nataša KnapInstitute of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Zaloška cesta 4, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Miroslav PetrovecInstitute of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Zaloška cesta 4, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Mario PoljakInstitute of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Zaloška cesta 4, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Tatjana Avšič-ŽupancInstitute of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Zaloška cesta 4, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Miša KorvaInstitute of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Zaloška cesta 4, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.ORCID 0000-0003-1501-1004

Funding

European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program 871029Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency P3-0083Network of Infrastructure Centres of the University of Ljubljana MRIC-UL-IC-BSL3+
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The emergence and rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2 prompted the global community to identify innovative approaches to diagnose infection and sequence the viral genome because at several points in the pandemic positive case numbers exceeded the laboratory capacity to characterize sufficient samples to adequately respond to the spread of emerging variants. From week 10, 2020, to week 13, 2023, Slovenian routine complete genome sequencing (CGS) surveillance network yielded 41 537 complete genomes and revealed a typical molecular epidemiology with early lineages gradually being replaced by Alpha, Delta, and finally Omicron. We developed a targeted next-generation sequencing based variant surveillance strategy dubbed Spike Screen through sample pooling and selective SARS-CoV-2 spike gene amplification in conjunction with CGS of individual cases to increase throughput and cost-effectiveness. Spike Screen identifies variant of concern (VOC) and variant of interest (VOI) signature mutations, analyses their frequencies in sample pools, and calculates the number of VOCs/VOIs at the population level. The strategy was successfully applied for detection of specific VOC/VOI mutations prior to their confirmation by CGS. Spike Screen complemented CGS efforts with an additional 22 897 samples sequenced in two time periods: between week 42, 2020, and week 24, 2021, and between week 37, 2021, and week 2, 2022. The results showed that Spike Screen can be applied to monitor VOC/VOI mutations among large volumes of samples in settings with limited sequencing capacity through reliable and rapid detection of novel variants at the population level and can serve as a basis for public health policy planning.

Indexed as

COVID-19High-Throughput Nucleotide SequencingSARS-CoV-2Spike Glycoprotein, CoronavirusGenome, ViralHumansMutationSloveniaSpike Glycoprotein, Coronavirusspike protein, SARS-CoV-2complete-genome sequencingCOVID-19molecular surveillancenext-generation sequencingSARS-CoV-2spike gene

Identifiers

PMID38833323
PMCPMC11149657

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.