A two-step process for in silico screening to assess the performance of qRTPCR kits against variant strains of SARS-CoV-2

Table 1 A describes the in silico qRT-PCR kit validation with SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant and B describes the in silico qRT-PCR kit validation with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant

A
*In silico* evaluation of qRT-PCR Kits with SARS-CoV-2 Delta Variant
	Alignment results with global Delta sequences (First level screening analysis)			Alignment results with Indian Delta sequences (Second level screening analysis)			Overall results^a
Type of Kit	Total number of kits	No. satisfactory	% satisfactory	No. of kits	No. satisfactory	% satisfactory	Overall satisfactory %
One gene	3	2	67	0	NA	NA	67
Two gene	53	39	74	1	1	100	75
Three gene	16	13	81	2	0	0	81
Four gene	1	1	100	0	NA	NA	100
Total	73	55	75	3	1	33	77
B
*In silico* evaluation of qRT-PCR Kits with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Variant
	Alignment results with global Omicron sequences (First level screening analysis)			Alignment results with Indian Omicron sequences (Second level screening analysis)			Overall results^a
Type of Kit	Total number of kits	No. satisfactory	% satisfactory	No. of kits	No. satisfactory	% satisfactory	Overall satisfactory %
One gene	3	1	33	2	1	50	67
Two gene	53	34	64	16	12	75	87
Three gene	16	13	81	2	2	100	94
Four gene	1	1	100	0	NA	NA	100
Total	73	49	67	20	15	75	88

^aThe overall results were calculated by adding the number of satisfactory kits in first and second level screening then divided by total number of kits in each category and expressed as percentage

ISSN: 1471-2164