Molecular genotyping of human rhinovirus by using PCR and Sanger sequencing

Human rhinovirus (HRV) is the virus most often associated with acute upper respiratory tract infections. Advances in molecular detection have shown that HRV is also the major viral cause of asthma exacerbations. Genotypic assignment and identification of HRV types are of significant value in the investigation of type-associated differences in disease outcomes, transmission, and epidemiology. Here, we describe a genotyping process involving two separate RT-PCR assays, targeted to VP4/VP2 and 5' UTR regions of HRV genome, respectively. Together with the reference sequences of each HRV species, the generated sequences are used to construct phylogenetic tree for genotyping.