Viral Metagenomics – New applications for the broad-range detection of viromes in veterinary and public health settings

Abstract

Metagenomic methods for detection of viruses provide new diagnostic tools to the veterinary and public health laboratories, with powerful capacities to detect and to monitor the viromes in clinical samples. Our groups at the OIE Collaborating Centre for the Biotechnology-based Diagnosis of Infectious Diseases in Veterinary Medicine, Uppsala, Sweden and at the SLU Global Bioinformatics Centre, Uppsala, Sweden are working with the development and evaluation of the methodological and technological platforms for viral metagenomics. Together with the National Veterinary Institute (SVA), we develop and test methods for extraction of viromes, feasibility of sequencing platforms to deliver metagenomic data-sets and evaluate bioinformatics tools as well as combine them into software packages for analysis and exploration of metagenomes. The aim of the work is to provide insight into using the metagenomics approach for detection of emerging viruses.