The lack of validated methods for high-throughput virome analysis has long been an obstacle in the understanding of the human gut virome.
For this reason, studying and knowing the impact of each step leading to result of virome analysis is crucial. In a recent article, a group has been using a mock-virome community sample (containing 9 viruses including coronavirus), to evaluate sample preparation impact on viral studies with qPCR and NGS.
An optimized protocol baptized NetoVIR (Novel enrichment technique of VIRomes) involving the Minilys tissue homogenizer, resulted from this study and provides a standardized approach to the homogenization step. This protocol is a promising approach for unbiased, reproducible, viral metagenomic studies on fecal samples.
