AUTHOR=Singh Bharati , Avula Kiran , Chatterjee Sanchari , Datey Ankita , Ghosh Arup , De Saikat , Keshry Supriya Suman , Ghosh Soumyajit , Suryawanshi Amol Ratnakar , Dash Rupesh , Senapati Shantibhusan , Beuria Tushar K. , Prasad Punit , Raghav Sunil , Swain Rajeeb , Parida Ajay , Hussain Syed Gulam , Chattopadhyay Soma 

TITLE=Isolation and Characterization of Five Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Strains of Different Clades and Lineages Circulating in Eastern India

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=Volume 13 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.856913

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2022.856913

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=Emergence of SARS CoV-2 as a serious pandemic has altered the global socioeconomic dynamics. The wide prevalence, high death counts and rapid emergence of new variants urge for establishment of research infrastructure to facilitate rapid development of efficient therapeutic modalities and preventive measures. In agreement with this, SARS CoV-2 strains were isolated from patient swab samples collected during the 1st COVID-19 wave in Odisha, India. The viral isolates were adapted to in-vitro cultures and further characterized to identify strain specific variations in viral growth characteristics. The neutralization susceptibility of viral isolates to vaccine-induced antibodies was determined using sera from individuals vaccinated in the Government run vaccine drive in India. The major goal was to isolate and adapt SARS CoV-2 viruses in cell culture with minimum  modifications to facilitate research activities involved in understanding the molecular virology, host-virus interactions, drug discovery and animal challenge models that eventually contribute towards the development of reliable therapeutics.