No abstract

Most viruses that infect plants use RNA to carry their genomic information; timely and robust detection methods are crucial for efficient control of these diverse pathogens. The RNA viruses, potexvirus (Potexvirus, family Alphaflexiviridae), potyvirus (Potyvirus, family Potyviridae), and tobamovirus (Tobamovirus, family Virgaviridae) are among the most economically damaging pathogenic plant viruses, as they are highly infectious and distributed worldwide. Their infection of crop plants, alone or together with other viruses, causes severe yield losses. Isothermal nucleic acid amplification methods, such as loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA), and others have been harnessed for the detection of DNA- and RNA-based viruses. However, they have a high rate of non-specific amplification and other drawbacks. The collateral activities of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) and CRISPR-associated nuclease Cas systems such as Cas12 and Cas14 (which act on ssDNA) and Cas13 (which acts on ssRNA) have recently been exploited to develop highly sensitive, specific, and rapid detection platforms. Here, we report the development of a simple, rapid, and efficient RT- RPA method, coupled with a CRISPR/Cas12a-based one-step detection assay, to detect plant RNA viruses. This diagnostic method can be performed at a single temperature in less than 30 min and integrated with an inexpensive commercially available fluorescence visualizer to facilitate rapid, in-field diagnosis of plant RNA viruses. Our developed assay provides an efficient and robust detection platform to accelerate plant pathogen detection and fast-track containment strategies.

Simple, rapid, specific, and sensitive point-of-care detection methods are needed to contain the spread of SARS-CoV-2. CRISPR/Cas9-based lateral flow assays are emerging as a powerful alternative for COVID-19 diagnostics. Here, we developed Bio-SCAN (biotin-coupled specific CRISPR-based assay for nucleic acid detection) as an accurate pathogen detection platform that requires no sophisticated equipment or technical expertise. Bio-SCAN detects the SARS-CoV-2 genome in less than 1 h from sample collection to result. In the first step, the target nucleic acid sequence is isothermally amplified in 15 min via recombinase polymerase amplification before being precisely detected by biotin-labeled nuclease-dead SpCas9 (dCas9) on commercially available lateral flow strips. The resulting readout is visible to the naked eye. Compared to other CRISPR-Cas-based pathogen detection assays, Bio-SCAN requires no additional reporters, probes, enhancers, reagents, or sophisticated devices to interpret the results. Bio-SCAN is highly sensitive and successfully detected a clinically relevant level (4 copies/μL) of synthetic SARS-CoV-2 RNA genome. Similarly, Bio-SCAN showed 100% negative and 96% positive predictive agreement with RT-qPCR results when using clinical samples (86 nasopharyngeal swab samples). Furthermore, incorporating variant-specific sgRNAs in the detection reaction allowed Bio-SCAN to efficiently distinguish between the α, β, and δ SARS-CoV-2 variants. Also, our results confirmed that the Bio-SCAN reagents have a long shelf life and can be assembled locally in nonlaboratory and limited-resource settings. Furthermore, the Bio-SCAN platform is compatible with the nucleic acid quick extraction protocol. Our results highlight the potential of Bio-SCAN as a promising point-of-care diagnostic platform that can facilitate low-cost mass screening for SARS-CoV-2.

Rapid, sensitive, and specific point-of-care testing for pathogens is crucial for disease control. Lateral flow assays (LFAs) have been employed for nucleic acid detection, but they have limited sensitivity and specificity. Here, we used a fusion of catalytically inactive SpCas9 endonuclease and VirD2 relaxase for sensitive, specific nucleic acid detection by LFA. In this assay, the target nucleic acid is amplified with biotinylated oligos. VirD2-dCas9 specifically binds the target sequence via dCas9 and covalently binds to a FAM-tagged oligonucleotide via VirD2. The biotin label and FAM tag are detected by a commercially available LFA. We coupled this system, named Vigilant ( Vi rD2-dCas9 g u i ded and L FA-coupled n ucleic acid t est), to reverse transcription-recombinase polymerase amplification to detect SARS-CoV2 in clinical samples. Vigilant exhibited a limit of detection of 2.5 copies/μL, comparable to CRISPR-based systems, and showed no cross-reactivity with SARS-CoV1 or MERS. Vigilant offers an easy-to-use, rapid, cost-effective, and robust detection platform for SARS-CoV2.

One important factor for successful disease management is the ability to rapidly and accurately identify the causal agent. Plant viruses cause severe economic losses and pose a serious threat to sustainable agriculture. Therefore, optimization of the speed, sensitivity, feasibility, portability, and accuracy of virus detection is urgently needed. Here, we developed a clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-based nucleic acid diagnostic method utilizing the CRISPR–Cas12a system for detecting two geminiviruses, tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) and tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus (ToLCNDV), which have single-stranded DNA genomes. Our assay detected TYLCV and ToLCNDV in infected plants with high sensitivity and specificity. Our newly developed assay can be performed in ~1 h and provides easy-to-interpret visual readouts using a simple, low-cost fluorescence visualizer, making it suitable for point-of-use applications.

Type VI CRISPR-Cas systems have been repurposed for various applications such as gene knockdown, viral interference, and diagnostics. However, the identification and characterization of thermophilic orthologs will expand and unlock the potential of diverse biotechnological applications. Herein, we identified and characterized a thermostable ortholog of the Cas13a family from the thermophilic organism Thermoclostridium caenicola (TccCas13a). We show that TccCas13a has a close phylogenetic relation to the HheCas13a ortholog from the thermophilic bacterium Herbinix hemicellulosilytica and shares several properties such as thermostability and inability to process its own pre-CRISPR RNA. We demonstrate that TccCas13a possesses robust cis and trans activities at a broad temperature range of 37 to 70 °C, compared with HheCas13a, which has a more limited range and lower activity. We harnessed TccCas13a thermostability to develop a sensitive, robust, rapid, and one-pot assay, named OPTIMA-dx, for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) detection. OPTIMA-dx exhibits no cross-reactivity with other viruses and a limit of detection of 10 copies/μL when using a synthetic SARS-CoV-2 genome. We used OPTIMA-dx for SARS-CoV-2 detection in clinical samples, and our assay showed 95% sensitivity and 100% specificity compared with qRT-PCR. Furthermore, we demonstrated that OPTIMA-dx is suitable for multiplexed detection and is compatible with the quick extraction protocol. OPTIMA-dx exhibits critical features that enable its use at point of care (POC). Therefore, we developed a mobile phone application to facilitate OPTIMA-dx data collection and sharing of patient sample results. This work demonstrates the power of CRISPR-Cas13 thermostable enzymes in enabling key applications in one-pot POC diagnostics and potentially in transcriptome engineering, editing, and therapies.

Cladribine triphosphate is the active compound of the anti-cancer and multiple sclerosis drug Mavenclad (cladribine). Biosynthesis of such non-natural deoxyribonucleotides is challenging but important in order to study the pharmaceutical modes of action. In this study, we developed a novel one-pot enzyme cascade for the biosynthesis of cladribine triphosphate, starting with the nucleobase 2Cl-adenine and the generic co-substrate phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate. The cascade is comprised of the three enzymes, namely, adenine phosphoribosyltransferase (APT), polyphosphate kinase (PPK), and ribonucleotide reductase (RNR). APT catalyzes the binding of the nucleobase to the ribose moiety, followed by two consecutive phosphorylation reactions by PPK. The formed nucleoside triphosphate is reduced to the final product 2Cl-deoxyadenonsine triphosphate (cladribine triphosphate) by the RNR. The cascade is feasible, showing comparative product concentrations and yields to existing enzyme cascades for nucleotide biosynthesis. While this study is limited to the biosynthesis of cladribine triphosphate, the design of the cascade offers the potential to extend its application to other important deoxyribonucleotides.

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the conventional diagnostic field and revealed the need for decentralized Point of Care (POC) solutions. Although nucleic acid testing is considered to be the most sensitive and specific disease detection method, conventional testing platforms are expensive, confined to central laboratories, and are not deployable in low-resource settings. CRISPR-based diagnostics have emerged as promising tools capable of revolutionizing the field of molecular diagnostics. These platforms are inexpensive, simple, and do not require the use of special instrumentation, suggesting they could democratize access to disease diagnostics. However, there are several obstacles to the use of the current platforms for POC applications, including difficulties in sample processing and stability. In this review, we discuss key advancements in the field, with an emphasis on the challenges of sample processing, stability, multiplexing, amplification-free detection, signal interpretation, and process automation. We also discuss potential solutions for revolutionizing CRISPR-based diagnostics toward sample-to-answer diagnostic solutions for POC and home use.