Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 10, 2025

Swabbing the Urban Environment - A Pipeline for Sampling and Detection of SARS-CoV-2 From Environmental Reservoirs
Published on: April 9, 2021
Initial Insights Into the Genetic Epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 Isolates From Kerala Suggest Local Spread From Limited
Chandni Radhakrishnan1, Mohit Kumar Divakar2,3, Abhinav Jain2,3
1Government Medical College, Kozhikode, India.
Abstract:
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) rapidly spread from a city in China to almost every country in the world, affecting millions of individuals. The rapid increase in the COVID-19 cases in the state of Kerala in India has necessitated the understanding of SARS-CoV-2 genetic epidemiology. We sequenced 200 samples from patients in Kerala using COVIDSeq protocol amplicon-based sequencing. The analysis identified 166 high-quality single-nucleotide variants encompassing four novel variants and 89 new variants in the Indian isolated SARS-CoV-2. Phylogenetic and haplotype analysis revealed that the virus was dominated by three distinct introductions followed by local spread suggesting recent outbreaks and that it belongs to the A2a clade. Further analysis of the functional variants revealed that two variants in the S gene associated with increased infectivity and five variants mapped in primer binding sites affect the efficacy of RT-PCR. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first and most comprehensive report of SARS-CoV-2 genetic epidemiology from Kerala.
Related Concept Videos
Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms-SNPs
Viral Mutations
Introduction to Epidemiology
Genome Size and the Evolution of New Genes
Mutation, Gene Flow, and Genetic Drift
Gene Flow

