No species-level losses of s2m suggests critical role in replication of SARS-related coronaviruses

Autor: Clément Gilbert, Torstein Tengs
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Zdroj: Scientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-5 (2021)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2045-2322
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-95496-4
Popis: Abstract 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.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals
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