tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
iScience
. 2023 Feb 16;106210.
doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.106210. Online ahead of print.
Genomic diversity of SARS-CoV-2 can be accelerated by mutations in the nsp14 gene
Kosuke Takada[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Mahoko Takahashi Ueda[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Shintaro Shichinohe[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Yurie Kida[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Chikako Ono[SUP] 4 5 [/SUP], Yoshiharu Matsuura[SUP] 4 5 [/SUP], Tokiko Watanabe[SUP] 1 5 6 [/SUP], So Nakagawa[SUP] 2 7 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
Coronaviruses, including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), encode a proofreading exonuclease, nonstructural protein 14 (nsp14), that helps ensure replication competence at a low evolutionary rate compared with other RNA viruses. In the current pandemic, SARS-CoV-2 has accumulated diverse genomic mutations including in nsp14. Here, to clarify whether amino acid substitutions in nsp14 affect the genomic diversity and evolution of SARS-CoV-2, we searched for amino acid substitutions in nature that may interfere with nsp14 function. We found that viruses carrying a proline-to-leucine change at position 203 (P203L) have a high evolutionary rate and that a recombinant SARS-CoV-2 virus with the P203L mutation acquired more diverse genomic mutations than wild-type virus during its replication in hamsters. Our findings suggest that substitutions, such as P203L, in nsp14 may accelerate the genomic diversity of SARS-CoV-2, contributing to virus evolution during the pandemic.
Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; coronavirus; mutation; non-structural protein 14.
. 2023 Feb 16;106210.
doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.106210. Online ahead of print.
Genomic diversity of SARS-CoV-2 can be accelerated by mutations in the nsp14 gene
Kosuke Takada[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Mahoko Takahashi Ueda[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Shintaro Shichinohe[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Yurie Kida[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Chikako Ono[SUP] 4 5 [/SUP], Yoshiharu Matsuura[SUP] 4 5 [/SUP], Tokiko Watanabe[SUP] 1 5 6 [/SUP], So Nakagawa[SUP] 2 7 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 36811085
- PMCID: PMC9933857
- DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.106210
Abstract
Coronaviruses, including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), encode a proofreading exonuclease, nonstructural protein 14 (nsp14), that helps ensure replication competence at a low evolutionary rate compared with other RNA viruses. In the current pandemic, SARS-CoV-2 has accumulated diverse genomic mutations including in nsp14. Here, to clarify whether amino acid substitutions in nsp14 affect the genomic diversity and evolution of SARS-CoV-2, we searched for amino acid substitutions in nature that may interfere with nsp14 function. We found that viruses carrying a proline-to-leucine change at position 203 (P203L) have a high evolutionary rate and that a recombinant SARS-CoV-2 virus with the P203L mutation acquired more diverse genomic mutations than wild-type virus during its replication in hamsters. Our findings suggest that substitutions, such as P203L, in nsp14 may accelerate the genomic diversity of SARS-CoV-2, contributing to virus evolution during the pandemic.
Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; coronavirus; mutation; non-structural protein 14.