The genetic element s2m has been acquired through horizontal transfer by many distantly related viruses, including the SARS-related coronaviruses. Here we show that s2m is evolutionarily conserved in these viruses. Though several lineages of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) devoid of the element can be found, these variants seem to have been short lived, indicating that they were less evolutionary fit than their s2m-containing counterparts. On a species-level, however, there do not appear to be any losses and this pattern strongly suggests that the s2m element is essential to virus replication in SARS-CoV-2 and related viruses. Further experiments are needed to elucidate the function of s2m.
【저자키워드】 molecular evolution, Viral genetics, 【초록키워드】 viruses, SARS-CoV-2, coronavirus, Genetic, variant, Lineage, virus replication, experiment, acute respiratory syndrome, related viruses, transfer, SARS-related coronaviruses, conserved, less, 【제목키워드】 Replication, Critical, SARS-related coronavirus,