Virus has mutated into 10 types, one now dominant across regions: Study

[Treyfish]

Virus has mutated into 10 types, one now dominant across regions: Study

Yogita Rao | TNN | Updated: Apr 28, 2020, 16:03 IST

MUMBAI: The novel coronavirus, first reported in China in December 2019, has mutated into 10 different types and one of them — A2a — has nearly replaced all the others to become dominant across geographical regions, says a global study by an Indian institute.

The study, by Nidhan Biswas and Partha Majumder from the National Institute of Biomedical Genomics in Kalyani, West Bengal, will soon be published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research, a peer-reviewed medical journal published by the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR).

The novel coronavirus with the A2a mutation is highly efficient in entering human lung cells in larger numbers. The previous SARS-CoV that killed 800 and infected 8,000 people 10 years ago was also adept in entering the lungs, but not as much as A2a. It is efficient in transmission and resultantly, Covid-19 became highly prevalent across all regions, wrote the authors. The study is crucial as it provides vaccine manufacturers with a specific target.

The 10 types have evolved from the ancestral type ‘O’ over four months. A2a started overtaking other types across the world by March-end. “It has became the dominant type of SARS-CoV2,” said Majumder.
The NIBG researchers used the RNA sequence data shared by Covid-19 researchers from across the world in a public database, GISAID. The team used RNA sequences of 3,600 coronaviruses collected from 55 countries from December 2019 to April 6, 2020......https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...w/75417399.cms

[Treyfish]

Unique virus mutation in Bengal

INDIA Updated: Apr 30, 2020 23:27 IST
Jayashree Nandi
New Delhi: After Kerala and Gujarat, West Bengal has sequenced the SARS-CoV-2 genome and identified one unique mutation in the S2 domain of the spike protein of the virus in all samples sequenced from the state when compared to those sequenced in the other two states and Wuhan in China. There is one more mutation in S1 domain of the spike protein, which is similar to what Gujarat has found.

S1 attaches the virus to the cell membrane by interacting with host receptor while S2 mediates fusion between the virus and cell membrane , according to Uniprot which provides resources on protein sequence.

But it is too early to say how these mutations will affect us, said independent experts. The paper, led by CSIR Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata, and the Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR) in Ghaziabad, said that five sequences from West Bengal have been deposited on the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID) on April 27. Scientists compared the sequences from West Bengal with other sequences reported in India and with isolates of Wuhan origin.

Authors explain in their paper which is yet to be peer reviewed published in Medrxiv, a pre-print server for health research that when a virus tries to adapt to a new environment and population it would change its genetic makeup to utilise the host’s body in favour of virus’s survival and propagation. Broad mutation profile of this protein from extensive genome sequencing from different geographical....

“There appears to be a new mutation in West Bengal, which hasn’t been described previously. Some mutations are important while some are not. It’s too premature to say anything. The spike protein is a hotspot for mutation. We need some real-life studies of how these mutations change the virus. Some of these mutations may affect the way the virus enters the body,” said Dr Shobha Broor, former head of the AIIMS department of virology, who has read the study. “There will be mutations. For example, the Kerala sequence was very similar to the one from Wuhan, the rest were similar to those from Italy.... The mutations in SARS-CoV-2 are unlikely to affect the critical part of the spike glycoprotein. As of now, one vaccine is expected to protect all,” said Dr T Jacob John, professor emeritus and former head of virology at Christian Medical College, Vellore.https://www.hindustantimes.com/india...PVCivEkxI.html