Abstract
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a severe respiratory disease caused by the highly infectious severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, mutations of SARS-CoV-2 accumulate. These mutations may not only make the virus spread faster, but also render current vaccines less effective. In this study, we established a reference sequence for each clade defined using the GISAID typing method. Homology analysis of each reference sequence confirmed a low mutation rate for SARS-CoV-2, with the latest clade GRY having the lowest homology with other clades (99.89%-99.93%), and the homology between other clade being greater than or equal to 99.95%. Variation analyses showed that the earliest genotypes S, V, and G had 2, 3, and 3 characterizing mutations in the genome respectively. The G-derived clades GR, GH, and GV had 5, 6, and 13 characterizing mutations in the genome respectively. A total of 28 characterizing mutations existed in the genome of the latest clades GRY. In addition, we found differences in the geographic distribution of different clades. G, GH, and GR are popular in the USA, while GV and GRY are common in the UK. Our work may facilitate the custom design of antiviral strategies depending on the molecular characteristics of SARS-CoV-2.
Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; characterizing mutation; high-frequency mutation; reference sequence; variation analyses.
【저자키워드】 SARS-CoV-2, characterizing mutation, high-frequency mutation, reference sequence, variation analyses., 【초록키워드】 COVID-19, coronavirus disease, Coronavirus disease 2019, Vaccine, coronavirus, Mutation, COVID-19 pandemic, Variation, Genome, Characteristics, Respiratory disease, Genotype, clade, clades, molecular, respiratory, USA, distribution, GISAID, mutation rate, antiviral strategy, reference sequence, Analysis, Geographic distribution, Antiviral strategies, acute respiratory syndrome, acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, virus spread, severe respiratory disease, homology, homology analysis, effective, lowest, greater, defined, caused, addition, facilitate, less, faster, analyses, accumulate, 【제목키워드】 Variation, virus, Research, clade, Establishing,