Host genomic information, specifically genomic variations, may characterize susceptibility to disease and identify people with a higher risk of harm, leading to better targeting of care and vaccination. Italy was the epicentre for the spread of COVID-19 in Europe, the first country to go into a national lockdown and has one of the highest COVID-19 associated mortality rates. Qatar, on the other hand has a very low mortality rate. In this study, we compared whole-genome sequencing data of 14398 adults and Qatari-national to 925 Italian individuals. We also included in the comparison whole-exome sequence data from 189 Italian laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases. We focused our study on a curated list of 3619 candidate genes involved in innate immunity and host-pathogen interaction. Two population-gene metric scores, the Delta Singleton-Cohort variant score (DSC) and Sum Singleton-Cohort variant score (SSC), were applied to estimate the presence of selective constraints in the Qatari population and in the Italian cohorts. Results based on DSC and SSC metrics demonstrated a different selective pressure on three genes (MUC5AC, ABCA7, FLNA) between Qatari and Italian populations. This study highlighted the genetic differences between Qatari and Italian populations and identified a subset of genes involved in innate immunity and host-pathogen interaction.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, Population genetics, COVID-19 severity, genetic constraints, 【초록키워드】 whole-genome sequencing, Europe, vaccination, Innate immunity, lockdown, susceptibility, variant, Delta, Italy, mortality rate, mortality rates, disease, genomic variations, Care, host-pathogen interaction, candidate gene, COVID-19 cases, SSC, Epicentre, Metrics, higher risk, Italian population, sequence, cohorts, genetic differences, National, selective, laboratory-confirmed, MUC5AC, genomic information, ABCA7, FLNA, populations, country, Italian, spread of COVID-19, Result, highest, identify, involved, applied, demonstrated, individuals, subset, curated, genetic difference, 【제목키워드】 Population, Italian, insight,