In-depth study of the entire SARS-CoV-2 genome has uncovered many mutations, which have replaced the lineage that characterized the first wave of infections all around the world. In December 2020, the outbreak of variant of concern (VOC) 202012/01 (lineage B.1.1.7) in the United Kingdom defined a turning point during the pandemic, immediately posing a worldwide threat on the Covid-19 vaccination campaign. Here, we reported the evolution of B.1.1.7 lineage-related infections, analyzing samples collected from January 1 st 2021, until April 15 th 2021, in Friuli Venezia Giulia, a northeastern region of Italy. A cohort of 1508 nasopharyngeal swabs was analyzed by High Resolution Melting (HRM) and 479 randomly selected samples underwent Next Generation Sequencing analysis (NGS), uncovering a steady and continuous accumulation of B.1.1.7 lineage-related specimens, joined by sporadic cases of other known lineages (i.e. harboring the Spike glycoprotein p.E484K mutation). All the SARS-CoV-2 genome has been analyzed in order to highlight all the rare mutations that may eventually result in a new variant of interest. This work suggests that a thorough monitoring of the SARS-CoV-2 genome by NGS is essential to contain any new variant that could jeopardize all the efforts that have been made so far to resolve the emergence of the pandemic.
【초록키워드】 Evolution, vaccination, pandemic, Mutation, VoC, NGS, mutations, variant, spike glycoprotein, Infection, Italy, Nasopharyngeal swab, Cohort, infections, B.1.1.7, outbreak, nasopharyngeal swabs, SARS-CoV-2 genome, Lineage, next generation sequencing, glycoprotein, Lineage B.1.1.7, United Kingdom, First wave, specimens, Analysis, Resolution, high resolution, effort, Sequencing analysis, melting, highlight, defined, analyzed, collected, reported, characterized, replaced, the Spike, randomly selected sample, the SARS-CoV-2 genome, 【제목키워드】 Spread, Occurrence,