Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants of concern (VOC) pose an increased risk to public health due to higher transmissibility and/or immune escape. In this study, we assessed the performance of a custom TaqMan SARS-CoV-2 mutation panel consisting of 10 selected real-time PCR (RT-PCR) genotyping assays compared to whole-genome sequencing (WGS) for identification of 5 VOC circulating in The Netherlands. SARS-CoV-2 positive samples (N = 664), collected during routine PCR screening (15 ≤ ≤ 32) between May-July 2021 and December 2021-January 2022, were selected and analyzed using the RT-PCR genotyping assays.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Males of are difficult to associate with conspecific females, and sex-matching errors may persist in the taxonomic literature. Recommended best practices for definitive sex matching in this genus suggest finding a male in the web of a female, or better yet, mating pairs.
New Information: A male was observed hanging on a frame line of the web of a female , a species for which the male was previously undescribed.