NEBNext® ARTIC products for SARS-CoV-2 sequencing
Especially with the ongoing emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants that affect virus transmission and other metrics significant to public health, there is an increasing need for reliable, accurate and fast methods for sequencing SARS-CoV-2. The NEBNext ARTIC kits are based on the original work of the ARTIC Network, who quickly adapted their protocols to SARS-CoV-2 (Josh Quick 2020. nCoV-2019 sequencing protocol v2 (GunIt)).
The ARTIC method is a multiplexed amplicon-based whole-viral-genome sequencing approach (Figure 1), and the NEBNext ARTIC kit options are compatible with Illumina and Oxford Nanopore Technologies sequencing platforms. The two kits compatible with Illumina sequencing generate library inserts of ~150 bp or ~400 bp, for 2 x 75 or 2 x 250 sequencing, respectively (Figure 2). The NEBNext ARTIC SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR Module contains only the reagents required for cDNA synthesis and targeted cDNA amplification from SARS-CoV-2 genomic RNA.
Express workflow options are provided, with reduced cleanup steps.
Two options for primers are now available, including new VarSkip Short v2 primers, in the NEBNext ARTIC SARS-CoV-2 FS Library Prep Kit (Illumina) (NEB #E7658), NEBNext ARTIC SARS-CoV-2 Companion Kit (Oxford Nanopore Technologies) (NEB #E7660) and NEBNext ARTIC SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR Module (NEB #E7626).
- The VarSkip (for Variant Skip) Short primers have been designed at NEB to reduce the impact of SARS-CoV-2 variants on amplification and provide improved performance, including with the Omicron variant. The primer pools are balanced for coverage uniformity.
Information on primer overlaps with Omicron and Delta variants.
- The V3 ARTIC primers have been balanced, using methodology developed at NEB based on empirical data from sequencing. In combination with optimized reagents for RT-PCR, the kits deliver improved uniformity of amplicon yields from gRNA across a wide copy number range.
NEBNext ARTIC SARS-CoV-2 Library Prep Kit (Illumina) Workflow
NEBNext ARTIC SARS-CoV-2 FS Library Prep Kit (Illumina) Workflow
NEBNext ARTIC SARS-CoV-2 Workflow for Oxford Nanopore Technologies Sequencing
RT reaction conditions are the same for all input amounts, and for Illumina applications, a novel DNA polymerase formulation for the enrichment of next-generation sequencing libraries eliminates the need to normalize amplicon concentrations prior to library preparation.
- Two primer options included: VarSkip Short v2, for improved Omicron coverage, and ARTIC V3
- Express protocols available, with reduced cleanup steps
- Improved uniformity of SARS-CoV-2 genome coverage depth with balanced primer pools
- Streamlined, high-efficiency protocols
- Effective with a wide range of viral genome inputs (10-10,000 copies)
- Available for Illumina and Oxford Nanopore Technologies sequencing platforms
- Single RT conditions for all input amounts
- No requirement for amplicon normalization prior to library preparation (Illumina-compatible kits)
- Optional use control human primers provided
- Includes NEBNext Sample Purification Beads (SPRIselect®)
- Library adaptors and primers available separately
- Bulk formats (2,304 reactions) also available. Please contact us
Read what leaders in ARTIC SARS-CoV-2 sequencing are saying
The NEBNext ARTIC SARS-CoV-2 Companion Kit (Oxford Nanopore Technologies) will provide researchers with the most convenient way to perform nanopore sequencing of SARS-CoV-2. When developing the ARTIC protocol we have focused on recovery of near-complete genomes from challenging clinical samples with <Ct33. We adopted a 400 bp tiling amplicon approach because it provides robust performance across a wide range of inputs including high Ct and degraded RNA samples which are often encountered. The native barcoding workflow provides full-length amplicons compatible with best practice demultiplexing and reference-based consensus building while the PCR-free library preparation minimizes amplicon contamination risk. We have worked in collaboration with NEB in optimizing the protocol to minimize reagent volumes while improving performance and this now also benefits from optimized primer pools which greatly improve genome completeness and reduce read coverage requirements. The compatibility with the 96-barcode native barcoding expansion kit allows the flexibility to run between 24 and 96 samples depending on your requirements.
We have been impressed by the great performance of the NEBNext ARTIC FS kit in our sequencing of human samples containing SARS-CoV-2 RNA. With this kit we have been successfully processing samples of varying quality and quantity and have been amazed by its sensitivity and remarkable uniformity of the viral genome coverage. The quick turnaround time of the robust workflow has been truly beneficial for us.
The NEBNext ARTIC SARS-CoV-2 FS Library Prep Kit ensures rapid, accurate and reliable determination of the SARS-CoV-2 whole genome. Due to its ease of use, the NEBNext ARTIC SARS-CoV-2 FS Library Prep Kit enables rapid integration into the routine NGS workflow. Furthermore, the kit still works robust with difficult clinical samples (ct>30). I would recommend the NEBNext ARTIC SARS-CoV-2 FS Library Prep Kit 100%.
