Key result
Viral metagenomic sequencing of pig spleen tissue enables efficient whole genome sequencing of ASFV.
Why the study?
African swine fever virus has a complex genome with currently inadequate whole genome information, making efficient acquisition of virus genome sequences important for genomic and epidemiological studies.
A novel viral metagenomic sequencing method enables efficient whole genome sequencing of the African swine fever virus from small tissue samples.
May enable ASFV genomic surveillance from limited swine samples; leaves open field validation and broader epidemiological adoption.
In 2018, there was an outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) in China, which spread to other provinces in the following three years, severely damaging China’s pig industry. ASF is caused by the African swine fever virus (ASFV). Given that the genome of the African swine fever virus is very complex and whole genome information is currently inadequate, it is important to efficiently obtain virus genome sequences for genomic and epidemiological studies. The prevalent ASFV strains have low genetic variability; therefore, whole genome sequencing analysis provides a basis for the study of ASFV. We provide a method for the efficient sequencing of whole genomes, requiring only a small number of tissues. The pig spleen were crushed and homogenized, and the tissue and cell fragments were removed by low-speed centrifugation. The virus-like particles (VLPs) in the solution were purified and concentrated by filtration and over-speed centrifugation. After obtaining the relatively pure VLP sample, nucleic acids were extracted simultaneously by co-extraction of viral DNA (dsDNA, ssDNA) and RNA (ssRNA, dsRNA). Then, the database construction method was selected according to the genomic types of ASFV, and the whole ASFV genome was obtained through data filtering, host sequence removal, virus classification, data assembly, virus sequence identification, statistical analysis, gene prediction, and functional analysis. Our proposed method will facilitate ASFV genome sequencing and novel virus discovery.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Ji et al. (2024) studied African swine fever. Viral metagenomic sequencing method was evaluated on Whole ASFV genome sequencing. A proposed viral metagenomic sequencing method using pig spleen tissue enables efficient whole genome sequencing of the African swine fever virus to facilitate genomic and epidemiological studies.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: