Ye, C. et al. PNAS 118, e2111593118 (2021)

Investigators at Texas Biomed generated recombinant SARS-CoV-2 expressing a fluorescent or bioluminescent reporter that allowed them to track the virus in a mouse model of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Previous reporter-expressing SARS-CoV-2 – genetically engineered by substituting the viral open reading frame 7a protein with a reporter gene – showed insufficient expression level of reporter genes. Here, Ye and colleagues cloned the reporter genes upstream of the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid gene, without deleting any viral gene. The higher signal obtained using this strategy resulted in efficient detection of viral infection in the lungs of infected K18 human angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (hACE2) transgenic mice using an in vivo imaging system.