Mapping RNA dependent RNA polymerase activity and immune gene expression using PRO-seq

Positive strand, single strand RNA viruses ((+)ssRNA viruses) are viruses with an RNA genome that have broad impacts on a wide range of hosts, including SARS-CoV-2 human respiratory infections. Their replication and gene expression are driven by RNA dependent RNA polymerases (RdRp). Detecting active RNA synthesis by RdRp is critical for assessing the infectivity and pathogenicity of (+)ssRNA viruses. Current approaches rely on viral RNA detection, which cannot distinguish viral titer from RdRp activity. Precision Run-On sequencing (PRO-seq) is a nuclear run-on based nascent RNA sequencing method, widely used to map eukaryotic RNA polymerases by using labeled nucleotide analogues. Here we provide evidence that PRO-seq also detects RdRp activity and can serve as a highly sensitive RdRp mapping method. Coupled to PRO-seq in human blood samples, we propose to use PRO-seq as a single package method to detect (+)ssRNA virus RdRp activity and its interaction with host immune response through transcriptome-wide profiling of leukocyte gene expressions at once.