scholarly journals Multi-site co-mutations and 5’UTR CpG immunity escape drive the evolution of SARS-CoV-2

Author(s):  
Jingsong Zhang ◽  
Junyan Kang ◽  
Mofang Liu ◽  
Benhao Han ◽  
Li Li ◽  
...  

AbstractThe SARS-CoV-2 infected cases and the caused mortalities have been surging since the COVID-19 pandemic. Viral mutations emerge during the virus circulating in the population, which is shaping the viral infectivity and pathogenicity. Here we extensively analyzed 6698 SARS-CoV-2 whole genome sequences with specific sample collection dates in NCBI database. We found that four mutations, i.e., 5’UTR_c-241-t, NSP3_c-3037-t, NSP12_c-14408-t, and S_a-23403-g, became the dominant variants and each of them represented nearly 100% of all virus sequences since the middle May, 2020. Notably, we found that co-occurrence rates of three significant multi-site co-mutational patterns, i.e., (i) S_a-23403-g, NSP12_c-14408-t, 5’UTR_c-241-t, NSP3_c-3037-t, and ORF3a_c-25563-t; (ii) ORF8_t-28144-c, NSP4_c-8782-t, NSP14_c-18060-t, NSP13_a-17858-g, and NSP13_c-17747-t; and (iii) N_g-28881-a, N_g-28882-a, and N_g-28883-c, reached 66%, 90%, and nearly 100% of recent sequences, respectively. Moreover, we found significant decrease of CpG dinucleotide at positions 241(c)-242(g) in the 5’UTR during the evolution, which was verified as a potential target of human zinc finger antiviral protein (ZAP). The four dominant mutations, three significant multi-site co-mutations, and the potential escape mutation of ZAP-target in 5’UTR region contribute to the rapid evolution of SARS-CoV-2 virus in the population, thus shaping the viral infectivity and pathogenicity. This study provides valuable clues and frameworks to dissect the viral replication and virus-host interactions for designing effective therapeutics.One Sentence SummaryFour dominant mutations, three significant multi-site co-mutations, and 5’UTR CpG escape contribute to the rapid evolution of SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 1857
Author(s):  
Yao-Tang Lin ◽  
Long-Fung Chau ◽  
Hannah Coutts ◽  
Matin Mahmoudi ◽  
Vayalena Drampa ◽  
...  

An evolutionary arms race occurs between viruses and hosts. Hosts have developed an array of antiviral mechanisms aimed at inhibiting replication and spread of viruses, reducing their fitness, and ultimately minimising pathogenic effects. In turn, viruses have evolved sophisticated counter-measures that mediate evasion of host defence mechanisms. A key aspect of host defences is the ability to differentiate between self and non-self. Previous studies have demonstrated significant suppression of CpG and UpA dinucleotide frequencies in the coding regions of RNA and small DNA viruses. Artificially increasing these dinucleotide frequencies results in a substantial attenuation of virus replication, suggesting dinucleotide bias could facilitate recognition of non-self RNA. The interferon-inducible gene, zinc finger antiviral protein (ZAP) is the host factor responsible for sensing CpG dinucleotides in viral RNA and restricting RNA viruses through direct binding and degradation of the target RNA. Herpesviruses are large DNA viruses that comprise three subfamilies, alpha, beta and gamma, which display divergent CpG dinucleotide patterns within their genomes. ZAP has recently been shown to act as a host restriction factor against human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), a beta-herpesvirus, which in turn evades ZAP detection by suppressing CpG levels in the major immediate-early transcript IE1, one of the first genes expressed by the virus. While suppression of CpG dinucleotides allows evasion of ZAP targeting, synonymous changes in nucleotide composition that cause genome biases, such as low GC content, can cause inefficient gene expression, especially in unspliced transcripts. To maintain compact genomes, the majority of herpesvirus transcripts are unspliced. Here we discuss how the conflicting pressures of ZAP evasion, the need to maintain compact genomes through the use of unspliced transcripts and maintaining efficient gene expression may have shaped the evolution of herpesvirus genomes, leading to characteristic CpG dinucleotide patterns.


mBio ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorota Kmiec ◽  
Rayhane Nchioua ◽  
Scott Sherrill-Mix ◽  
Christina M. Stürzel ◽  
Elena Heusinger ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT CpG dinucleotide suppression has been reported to allow HIV-1 to evade inhibition by the zinc-finger antiviral protein (ZAP). Here, we show that primate lentiviruses display marked differences in CpG frequencies across their genome, ranging from 0.44% in simian immunodeficiency virus SIVwrc from Western red colobus to 2.3% in SIVmon infecting mona monkeys. Moreover, functional analyses of a large panel of human and simian immunodeficiency viruses revealed that the magnitude of CpG suppression does not correlate with their susceptibility to ZAP. However, we found that the number of CpG dinucleotides within a region of ∼700 bases at the 5′ end of the env gene determines ZAP sensitivity of primary HIV-1 strains but not of HIV-2. Increased numbers of CpGs in this region were associated with reduced env mRNA expression and viral protein production. ZAP sensitivity profiles of chimeric simian-human immunodeficiency viruses (SHIVs) expressing different HIV-1 env genes were highly similar to those of the corresponding HIV-1 strains. The frequency of CpGs in the identified env region correlated with differences in clinical progression rates. Thus, the CpG frequency in a specific part of env, rather than the overall genomic CpG content, governs the susceptibility of HIV-1 to ZAP and might affect viral pathogenicity in vivo. IMPORTANCE Evasion of the zinc-finger antiviral protein (ZAP) may drive CpG dinucleotide suppression in HIV-1 and many other viral pathogens but the viral determinants of ZAP sensitivity are poorly defined. Here, we examined CpG suppression and ZAP sensitivity in a large number of primate lentiviruses and demonstrate that their genomic frequency of CpGs varies substantially and does not correlate with ZAP sensitivity. We further show that the number of CpG residues in a defined region at the 5′ end of the env gene together with structural features plays a key role in HIV-1 susceptibility to ZAP and correlates with differences in clinical progression rates in HIV-1-infected individuals. Our identification of a specific part of env as a major determinant of HIV-1 susceptibility to ZAP restriction provides a basis for future studies of the underlying inhibitory mechanisms and their potential relevance in the pathogenesis of AIDS.


Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 1017
Author(s):  
Hirohisa Mekata ◽  
Tomohiro Okagawa ◽  
Satoru Konnai ◽  
Takayuki Miyazawa

Bovine foamy virus (BFV) is a member of the foamy virus family in cattle. Information on the epidemiology, transmission routes, and whole-genome sequences of BFV is still limited. To understand the characteristics of BFV, this study included a molecular survey in Japan and the determination of the whole-genome sequences of 30 BFV isolates. A total of 30 (3.4%, 30/884) cattle were infected with BFV according to PCR analysis. Cattle less than 48 months old were scarcely infected with this virus, and older animals had a significantly higher rate of infection. To reveal the possibility of vertical transmission, we additionally surveyed 77 pairs of dams and 3-month-old calves in a farm already confirmed to have BFV. We confirmed that one of the calves born from a dam with BFV was infected. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that a novel genotype was spread in Japan. In conclusion, the prevalence of BFV in Japan is relatively low and three genotypes, including a novel genotype, are spread in Japan.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Myat Htut Nyunt ◽  
Hnin Ohnmar Soe ◽  
Kay Thi Aye ◽  
Wah Wah Aung ◽  
Yi Yi Kyaw ◽  
...  

AbstractSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is a major health concern globally. Genomic epidemiology is an important tool to assess the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Several mutations have been reported by genome analysis of the SARS-CoV-2. In the present study, we investigated the mutational and phylogenetic analysis of 30 whole-genome sequences for the virus's genomic characteristics in the specimens collected in the early phase of the pandemic (March–June, 2020) and the sudden surge of local transmission (August–September, 2020). The four samples in the early phase of infection were B.6 lineage and located within a clade of the samples collected at the same time in Singapore and Malaysia, while five returnees by rescue flights showed the lineage B. 1.36.1 (three from India), B.1.1 (one from India) and B.1.80 (one from China). However, there was no evidence of local spread from these returnees. Further, all 19 whole-genome sequences collected in the sudden surge of local transmission showed lineage B.1.36. The surge of the second wave on SARS-CoV-2 infection was linked to the single-introduction of a variant (B.1.36) that may result from the strict restriction of international travel and containment efforts. These genomic data provides the useful information to disease control and prevention strategy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 100649
Author(s):  
Xiaoran Zhao ◽  
Ruijun Li ◽  
Huifeng Dang ◽  
Luo Wang ◽  
Songzhe Fu ◽  
...  

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (28) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Jones ◽  
Raji Prasad ◽  
Anjana S. Nair ◽  
Sanjai Dharmaseelan ◽  
Remya Usha ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT We report here the whole-genome sequence of six clinical isolates of influenza A(H1N1)pdm09, isolated from Kerala, India. Amino acid analysis of all gene segments from the A(H1N1)pdm09 isolates obtained in 2014 and 2015 identified several new mutations compared to the 2009 A(H1N1) pandemic strain.


2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pei-Tan Hsueh ◽  
Yao-Shen Chen ◽  
Hsi-Hsu Lin ◽  
Pei-Ju Liu ◽  
Wen-Fan Ni ◽  
...  

The entire genomes of two isogenic morphovars (vgh16W and vgh16R) of Burkholderia pseudomallei were sequenced. A comparison of the sequences from both strains indicates that they show 99.99% identity, are composed of 22 tandem repeated sequences with <100 bp of indels, and have 199 single-base variants.


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