Predicting the recombination potential of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus

Arinjay Banerjee; Andrew C Doxey; Benjamin J-M Tremblay; Michael J Mansfield; Sonu Subudhi; Jeremy A Hirota; Matthew S Miller; Andrew G McArthur; Samira Mubareka; Karen Mossman

doi:10.1099/jgv.0.001491

Predicting the recombination potential of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus

J Gen Virol. 2020 Dec;101(12):1251-1260. doi: 10.1099/jgv.0.001491. Epub 2020 Sep 9.

Authors

Arinjay Banerjee^{1

2}, Andrew C Doxey^{3

4}, Benjamin J-M Tremblay³, Michael J Mansfield⁵, Sonu Subudhi⁶, Jeremy A Hirota^{2

4}, Matthew S Miller^{2

7}, Andrew G McArthur^{2

7}, Samira Mubareka^{8

9}, Karen Mossman^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4K1, Canada.
² Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4K1, Canada.
³ Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada.
⁴ Division of Respirology, Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4K1, Canada.
⁵ Genomics and Regulatory Systems Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna, Okinawa 904-0495, Japan.
⁶ Gastrointestinal Unit and Liver Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
⁷ Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Science, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4K1, Canada.
⁸ Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario, M4N 3M5, Canada.
⁹ Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1A8, Canada.

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) recently emerged to cause widespread infections in humans. SARS-CoV-2 infections have been reported in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) causes seasonal outbreaks with a case fatality rate of ~37 %. Here we show that there exists a theoretical possibility of future recombination events between SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV RNA. Through computational analyses, we have identified homologous genomic regions within the ORF1ab and S genes that could facilitate recombination, and have analysed co-expression patterns of the cellular receptors for SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV, ACE2 and DPP4, respectively, to identify human anatomical sites that could facilitate co-infection. Furthermore, we have investigated the likely susceptibility of various animal species to MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 infection by comparing known virus spike protein-receptor interacting residues. In conclusion, we suggest that a recombination between SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV RNA is possible and urge public health laboratories in high-risk areas to develop diagnostic capability for the detection of recombined coronaviruses in patient samples.

Keywords: MERS-CoV; SARS-CoV-2; coronavirus; emergence; predictions; recombination.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Base Sequence
Coinfection
Gene Expression Regulation, Viral
Genome, Viral
Host Specificity
Humans
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus / genetics*
Models, Molecular
Phylogeny
Protein Conformation
Reassortant Viruses*
Receptors, Cell Surface
Recombination, Genetic
SARS-CoV-2 / genetics*
Viral Proteins / chemistry
Viral Proteins / genetics
Viral Proteins / metabolism

Substances

Receptors, Cell Surface
Viral Proteins