RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Emergence of SARS-CoV-2 through recombination and strong purifying selection
JF Science Advances
JO Sci Adv
FD American Association for the Advancement of Science
SP eabb9153
DO 10.1126/sciadv.abb9153
VO 6
IS 27
A1 Li, Xiaojun
A1 Giorgi, Elena E.
A1 Marichannegowda, Manukumar Honnayakanahalli
A1 Foley, Brian
A1 Xiao, Chuan
A1 Kong, Xiang-Peng
A1 Chen, Yue
A1 Gnanakaran, S.
A1 Korber, Bette
A1 Gao, Feng
YR 2020
UL http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/27/eabb9153.abstract
AB COVID-19 has become a global pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Understanding the origins of SARS-CoV-2 is critical for deterring future zoonosis, discovering new drugs, and developing a vaccine. We show evidence of strong purifying selection around the receptor binding motif (RBM) in the spike and other genes among bat, pangolin, and human coronaviruses, suggesting similar evolutionary constraints in different host species. We also demonstrate that SARS-CoV-2’s entire RBM was introduced through recombination with coronaviruses from pangolins, possibly a critical step in the evolution of SARS-CoV-2’s ability to infect humans. Similar purifying selection in different host species, together with frequent recombination among coronaviruses, suggests a common evolutionary mechanism that could lead to new emerging human coronaviruses.