Logo image
Analysis of the mutation dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 reveals the spread history and emergence of RBD mutant with lower ACE2 binding affinity
Preprint   Open access

Analysis of the mutation dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 reveals the spread history and emergence of RBD mutant with lower ACE2 binding affinity

Yong Jia, G. Shen, S. Nguyen, Y. Zhang, K. Huang, H. Ho, W. Hor, C. Yang, J. B. Bruning, Chengdao Li, …
bioRxiv
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
2020
pdf
Preprint2.03 MBDownloadView
CC BY-NC-ND V4.0 Open Access

Abstract

Monitoring the mutation dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 is critical for the development of effective approaches to contain the pathogen. By analyzing 106 SARS-CoV-2 and 39 SARS genome sequences, we provided direct genetic evidence that SARS-CoV-2 has a much lower mutation rate than SARS. Minimum Evolution phylogeny analysis revealed the putative original status of SARS-CoV-2 and the early-stage spread history. The discrepant phylogenies for the spike protein and its receptor binding domain proved a previously reported structural rearrangement prior to the emergence of SARS-CoV-2. Despite that we found the spike glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2 is particularly more conserved, we identified a receptor binding domain mutation that leads to weaker ACE2 binding capability based on in silico simulation, which concerns a SARS-CoV-2 sample collected on 27th January 2020 from India. This represents the first report of a significant SARS-CoV-2 mutant, and requires attention from researchers working on vaccine development around the world.

Details

Metrics

3 File views/ downloads
84 Record Views
Logo image