SEARCHLIGHT: A Modular Workflow for High-Resolution Viral Single-cell Genomics

Single-cell viral genomics is limited by low viral abundance and incomplete genome recovery. We developed SEARCHLIGHT (scRNA-seq-enabled acquisition of mRNA and consensus haplotypes linking individual genotypes and host transcriptomes), a modular workflow that improves recovery of viral cDNA from standard 10× Genomics 5' single-cell libraries, preserving barcodes for cell-level genome reconstruction. The core Basic Protocol uses virus-specific primers during cDNA synthesis to recover viral sequences from single cells. Two optional modules extend the workflow: SEARCHLIGHT + Kinnex, which increases sequencing depth through cDNA concatenation, and SEARCHLIGHT + Twist + Kinnex, which incorporates hybrid capture to enrich viral cDNA before long-read sequencing. Together, these modules expand recovery from moderate to low-abundance infections and support high-resolution analysis of viral diversity across diverse sample types. SEARCHLIGHT provides a flexible framework for balancing sensitivity, throughput, and cost in single-cell viral genomics. Published 2026. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA. Current Protocols published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. Basic Protocol: SEARCHLIGHT core workflow (single-cell viral genomics) Alternate Protocol 1: SEARCHLIGHT + Kinnex Alternate Protocol 2: SEARCHLIGHT + Twist + Kinnex.