Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40437225›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2025

Wastewater sequencing from a rural community enables identification of widespread adaptive mutations in a SARS-CoV-2 alpha variant.

Michael J Conway, Michael P Novay, Carson M Pusch, Avery S Ward, Jackson D Abel, Maggie R Williams, Rebecca L Uzarski, Elizabeth W Alm

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing 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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

8 authors.

Michael J ConwayFoundational Sciences, Central Michigan University College of Medicine, Mount Pleasant, MI, 48859, USA. michael.conway@cmich.edu.
Michael P NovayFoundational Sciences, Central Michigan University College of Medicine, Mount Pleasant, MI, 48859, USA.
Carson M PuschFoundational Sciences, Central Michigan University College of Medicine, Mount Pleasant, MI, 48859, USA.
Avery S WardFoundational Sciences, Central Michigan University College of Medicine, Mount Pleasant, MI, 48859, USA.
Jackson D AbelFoundational Sciences, Central Michigan University College of Medicine, Mount Pleasant, MI, 48859, USA.
Maggie R WilliamsSchool of Engineering & Technology, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI, USA.
Rebecca L UzarskiDepartment of Biology and Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow College of Health Professions, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI, USA.
Elizabeth W AlmDepartment of Biology, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Central Michigan University (CMU) participated in a state-wide wastewater monitoring program starting in 2021. One rural site consistently produced higher concentrations of SARS-CoV-2 genome copies. Samples from this site were sequenced retrospectively and exclusively contained a derivative of Alpha variant lineage B.1.1.7 that shed from the same site for 20-28 months. Complete reconstruction of each SARS-CoV-2 open reading frame (ORF) and alignment to an early B.1.1.7 clinical isolate identified novel mutations that were selected in non-structural (nsp1, nsp2, nsp3, nsp4, nsp5/3CLpro, nsp6, RdRp, nsp15, nsp16, ORF3a, ORF6, ORF7a, and ORF7b) and structural genes (Spike, M, and N). These were rare mutations that have not accumulated in clinical samples worldwide. Mutational analysis revealed divergence from the reference Alpha variant lineage sequence over time. We present each of the mutations on available structural models and discuss the potential role of these mutations during a chronic infection. This study further supports that small wastewater treatment plants can enhance resolution of rare events and facilitate reconstruction of viral genomes due to the relative lack of contaminating sequences and identifies mutations that may be associated with chronic infections.

Indexed as

COVID-19MutationSARS-CoV-2WastewaterGenome, ViralHumansOpen Reading FramesPhylogenyRural PopulationWastewater

Identifiers

PMID40437225
PMCPMC12119855

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.