The genetic structure of SARS‐CoV‐2 does not rule out a laboratory origin SARS‐COV‐2 chimeric structure and furin cleavage site might be the result of genetic manipulation

Severe acute respiratory syndrome‐coronavirus (SARS‐CoV)‐2′s origin is still controversial. Genomic analyses show SARS‐CoV‐2 likely to be chimeric, most of its sequence closest to bat CoV RaTG13, whereas its receptor binding domain (RBD) is almost identical to that of a pangolin CoV. Chimeric viruse...

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Published in:BioEssays Vol. 43; no. 3; p. e2000240
Main Authors: Segreto, Rossana, Deigin, Yuri
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.03.2021
John Wiley and Sons Inc
Subjects:
Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 - genetics
Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 - metabolism
Animals
Base Sequence
China
Chiroptera - virology
Cleavage
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
COVID-19 - pathology
COVID-19 - transmission
COVID-19 - virology
Eutheria - virology
Furin
Furin - metabolism
Genetic Engineering - ethics
Genetic structure
Genomic analysis
genomics
Humans
Mutagenesis, Site-Directed - methods
Pandemics
Pholidota (mammals)
Problems & Paradigms
Protein Binding
Reassortant Viruses - genetics
Reassortant Viruses - metabolism
Reassortant Viruses - pathogenicity
Receptors
Receptors, Virus - genetics
Receptors, Virus - metabolism
Recombination
SARS-CoV-2 - genetics
SARS-CoV-2 - metabolism
SARS-CoV-2 - pathogenicity
Sequence Alignment
Severe acute respiratory syndrome
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
Site-directed mutagenesis
Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus - genetics
Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus - metabolism
Spike protein
Viral diseases
viruses
China
receptor binding domain
SARS-CoV-2
pangolin CoV
furin cleavage site
BtCov/4991
Gain-of-function studies
RaTG13
ISSN:0265-9247, 1521-1878, 1521-1878
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Severe acute respiratory syndrome‐coronavirus (SARS‐CoV)‐2′s origin is still controversial. Genomic analyses show SARS‐CoV‐2 likely to be chimeric, most of its sequence closest to bat CoV RaTG13, whereas its receptor binding domain (RBD) is almost identical to that of a pangolin CoV. Chimeric viruses can arise via natural recombination or human intervention. The furin cleavage site in the spike protein of SARS‐CoV‐2 confers to the virus the ability to cross species and tissue barriers, but was previously unseen in other SARS‐like CoVs. Might genetic manipulations have been performed in order to evaluate pangolins as possible intermediate hosts for bat‐derived CoVs that were originally unable to bind to human receptors? Both cleavage site and specific RBD could result from site‐directed mutagenesis, a procedure that does not leave a trace. Considering the devastating impact of SARS‐CoV‐2 and importance of preventing future pandemics, researchers have a responsibility to carry out a thorough analysis of all possible SARS‐CoV‐2 origins.
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Rossana Segreto and Yuri Deigin contributed equally to this study.
No external funding was received for this work.
ISSN:0265-9247
1521-1878
1521-1878
DOI:10.1002/bies.202000240