Researchers at Harvard University in the United States and South Korea Dankook University have identified several genetic varieties of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which differ from each other nucleotide sequence in the RNA genomes. But it’s unclear whether this diversity of viruses with disease outcome COVID-19 and can have an impact on the development of the vaccine. The scientific results published in bioRxiv.
the Scientists analyzed the single-stranded RNA sequences of viruses that have been isolated from 11 of 132 patients with the new coronavirus and stored in the GISAID database that contains information about a complete or partially sequenced the genomes of SARS-CoV-2. Experts from the United States and South Korea are pairwise compared 2540 nucleotide sequences, determining the nucleotide substitutions point mutation in which one nucleotide RNA sequence is replaced by another. With the help of this technique, we measured the level of similarity between the genomes of SARS-CoV-2 infected patients from all over the world.
Scientists have identified four separate branches (cluster) among the samples of the virus from Europe and North America. Two of them are mostly European, one characteristic of the United States, and the latter – a mixture of HIV infections in the United States and Europe. However, only one predominantly European cluster is directly connected with viruses from people’s Republic of China (PRC). They constitute a branch of the “original” virus, which came to Europe and the United States from Asia. Another cluster contains European, Japanese, Australian and new Zealand genomes.
So, the genomes of coronavirus infection of the new type differ from region to region, and there are differences between viruses from Asia and Western countries. From the beginning the genetic makeup of SARS-CoV-2 was more homogeneous, but after a while began to split into separate clusters. Pandemic COVID-19 around the world have provoked a greater number of varieties of genomes. The results of the analysis correspond to the pattern of the spread of coronavirus infection of the new type, the researchers conclude. From the point of view of the authors, efforts to develop vaccines needs to take into account the genetic variability of the pathogen COVID-19.
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