© 2017 Xiu, Zhang, Wu and Peng. There are four human coronaviruses (HCo. Vs), distributed worldwide, that are associated with a range of respiratory symptoms. The discovery of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-CoV and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)-CoV shows that HCo. Vs pose a significant threat to human health. Our work aims to develop a sensitive method (mCoV-MS) which can not only identify known HCo. Vs accurately, but also have the ability to provide clues for the emerging HCo. Vs. The method was performed using a MassARRAY matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) system. We developed a 17-plex analysis to detect six HCo. Vs in Panel A and another 17-plex analysis to detect Alphacoronavirus and Betacoronavirus in Panel B. All tested primers and probes for the mCoV-MS method were effective, with no cross-reactivity observed with other common respiratory viruses. To confirm the usefulness of the mCoV-MS method we screened 384 pharyngeal and/or anal swab samples collected from bats/rodents, and 131 nasal and throat swabs from human patients. The results showed good concordance with the results of metagenomic analysis or PCR-sequencing. The validation test showed mCoV-MS method can detect potentially pathogenic Co. Vs in Alphacoronavirus and Betacoronavirus and provide convincingly phylogenetic evidences about unknown Co. Vs. The mCoV-MS method is a sensitive assay that is relatively simple to carry out. We propose that this method be used to complement next generation sequencing technology for large-scale screening studies.
year ⏰ 2017
issn 🗄 1664302X
volume 8
number AUG
page
citedbycount 10
download 🔖 [BibTeX]