shinyCurves, a shiny web application to analyse multisource qPCR amplification data: a COVID-19 case study

Background Quantitative, reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) is currently the gold-standard for SARS-CoV-2 detection and it is also used for detection of other virus. Manual data analysis of a small number of qRT-PCR plates per day is a relatively simple task, but automated, integrative strategies are needed if a laboratory is dealing with hundreds of plates per day, as is being the case in the COVID-19 pandemic. Results Here we present shinyCurves, an online shiny-based, free software to analyze qRT-PCR amplification data from multi-plate and multi-platform formats. Our shiny application does not require any programming experience and is able to call samples Positive, Negative or Undetermined for viral infection according to a number of user-defined settings, apart from providing a complete set of melting and amplification curve plots for the visual inspection of results. Conclusions shinyCurves is a flexible, integrative and user-friendly software that speeds-up the analysis of massive qRT-PCR data from different sources, with the possibility of automatically producing and evaluating melting and amplification curve plots.

Automated summary

shinyCurves is an online shiny-based software that analyzes qRT-PCR amplification data from multi-plate and multi-platform formats. It does not require programming experience and can call samples Positive, Negative or Undetermined for viral infection, providing melting and amplification curve plots for visual inspection of results. This flexible, integrative and user-friendly software speeds up analysis of massive qRT-PCR data, with the option to automatically produce and evaluate melting and amplification curve plots.