A Comparison of Performance for Different SARS-Cov-2 Sequencing Protocols

Abstract

SARS-Cov-2 genome sequencing has been identified as a fundamental tool for fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. It is used, for example, for identifying new variants of the virus and for elaborating phylogenetic trees that help to trace the spread of the virus. In the present study we provide a comprehensive comparison between the quality of the assemblies obtained from different sequencing protocols. We demonstrate how some protocols actively promoted by different high-level administrations are inefficient and how less-used alternative protocols show a significant increased performance. This increase of performance could lead to cheaper sequencing protocols and therefore to a more convenient escalation of the sequencing efforts around the world.