Generation and subsequent transmission of recombinant Sars-CoV-2 viruses within the community

Coronavirus, Genome, Recombination

A recent study found evidence for multiple independent recombination events of Sars-CoV-2 viruses sampled from late 2020 to early 2021 in the UK.  Researchers identified 16 recombinant genome sequences within the COG-UK dataset, and found evidence for four instances of onward transmission of a recombinant virus, including one lineage which circulated for at least nine weeks and resulted in a cluster of 45 associated COVID-19 infections.

These recombinant viruses carry many of the single nucleotide polymorphisms (substitution of a single nucleotide at a specific position in the genome) and deletions (mutation involving the loss of genetic material) that are characteristic of the B.1.1.7 variant of concern, now known as Alpha. However, part of these viruses’ genomes also share genetic variation identical to SARS-CoV-2 variants other than Alpha that were simultaneously circulating in the same geographic area.

COG Consortium report

 

 

Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay

** This post was originally published on September 4, 2021 **