Carrageenan from Gigartina skottsbergii: A Novel Molecular Probe to Detect SARS-CoV-2

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Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented health and economic crisis, highlighting the importance of developing new molecular tools to monitor and detect SARS-CoV-2. Hence, this study proposed to employ the carrageenan extracted from Gigartina skottsbergii algae as a probe for SARS-CoV-2 virus binding capacity and potential use in molecular methods. G. skottsbergii specimens were collected in the Chilean subantarctic ecoregion, and the carrageenan was extracted —using a modified version of Webber’s method—, characterized, and quantified. After 24 h of incubation with an inactivated viral suspension, the carrageenan’s capacity to bind SARS-CoV-2 was tested. The probe-bound viral RNA was quantified using the reverse transcription and reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) methods. Our findings showed that carrageenan extraction from seaweed has a similar spectrum to commercial carrageenan, achieving an excellent proportion of binding to SARS-CoV-2, with a yield of 8.3%. Viral RNA was also detected in the RT-LAMP assay. This study shows, for the first time, the binding capacity of carrageenan extracted from G. skottsbergii, which proved to be a low-cost and highly efficient method of binding to SARS-CoV-2 viral particles.
Funding Information
  • Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brasil (CAPES)—Finance (001, 20/2551-0000263-2)
  • the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) (001, 20/2551-0000263-2)
  • Research Support Foundation of the State of Rio Grande do Sul (FAPERGS) (001, 20/2551-0000263-2)

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