Int J Biol Sci 2021; 17(1):97-106. doi:10.7150/ijbs.47827 This issue Cite

Review

SARS-CoV-2 variants evolved during the early stage of the pandemic and effects of mutations on adaptation in Wuhan populations

Annoor Awadasseid1,3, Yanling Wu2✉, Yoshimasa Tanaka4, Wen Zhang1✉

1. Lab of Chemical Biology and Molecular Drug Design, College of Pharmaceutical Science, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310014, China.
2. Lab of Molecular Immunology, Virus Inspection Department, Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou, 310051, China.
3. Department of Biochemistry & Food Sciences, University of Kordofan, El-Obeid, 51111, Sudan.
4. Center for Medical Innovation, Nagasaki University, 1-7-1 Sakamoto, Nagasaki 852-8588, Japan.

Citation:
Awadasseid A, Wu Y, Tanaka Y, Zhang W. SARS-CoV-2 variants evolved during the early stage of the pandemic and effects of mutations on adaptation in Wuhan populations. Int J Biol Sci 2021; 17(1):97-106. doi:10.7150/ijbs.47827. https://www.ijbs.com/v17p0097.htm
Other styles

File import instruction

Abstract

Graphic abstract

The outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The pandemic apparently started in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, and has since affected many countries worldwide, turning into a major global threat. Chinese researchers reported that SARS-CoV-2 could be classified into two major variants. They suggest that investigating the variations and characteristics of these variants might help assess risks and develop better treatment and prevention strategies. The two variants were named L-type and S-type, in which L-type was prevailed in an initial outbreak in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province, and S-type was phylogenetically older than L-type and less prevalent at an early stage, but with a later increase in frequency in Wuhan. There were 149 mutations in 103 sequenced SARS-CoV-2 genomes, 83 of which were nonsynonymous, leading to alteration in the amino acid sequence of proteins. Much effort is currently being devoted to elucidate whether or not these mutations affect viral transmissibility and virulence. In this review, we summarize the mutations in SARS-CoV-2 during the early phase of virus evolution and discuss the significance of the gene alterations in infections.

Keywords: COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, mutations, genomes, bioinformatics


Citation styles

APA
Awadasseid, A., Wu, Y., Tanaka, Y., Zhang, W. (2021). SARS-CoV-2 variants evolved during the early stage of the pandemic and effects of mutations on adaptation in Wuhan populations. International Journal of Biological Sciences, 17(1), 97-106. https://doi.org/10.7150/ijbs.47827.

ACS
Awadasseid, A.; Wu, Y.; Tanaka, Y.; Zhang, W. SARS-CoV-2 variants evolved during the early stage of the pandemic and effects of mutations on adaptation in Wuhan populations. Int. J. Biol. Sci. 2021, 17 (1), 97-106. DOI: 10.7150/ijbs.47827.

NLM
Awadasseid A, Wu Y, Tanaka Y, Zhang W. SARS-CoV-2 variants evolved during the early stage of the pandemic and effects of mutations on adaptation in Wuhan populations. Int J Biol Sci 2021; 17(1):97-106. doi:10.7150/ijbs.47827. https://www.ijbs.com/v17p0097.htm

CSE
Awadasseid A, Wu Y, Tanaka Y, Zhang W. 2021. SARS-CoV-2 variants evolved during the early stage of the pandemic and effects of mutations on adaptation in Wuhan populations. Int J Biol Sci. 17(1):97-106.

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). See http://ivyspring.com/terms for full terms and conditions.
Popup Image