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Review
. 2021 Jan 29:538:88-91.
doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2020.10.102. Epub 2020 Nov 6.

Evolution patterns of SARS-CoV-2: Snapshot on its genome variants

Marta Giovanetti  1 , Francesca Benedetti  2 , Giovanni Campisi  3 , Alessandra Ciccozzi  4 , Silvia Fabris  4 , Giancarlo Ceccarelli  5 , Vittoradolfo Tambone  6 , Arnaldo Caruso  3 , Silvia Angeletti  7 , Davide Zella  2 , Massimo Ciccozzi  8
Affiliations
Review

Evolution patterns of SARS-CoV-2: Snapshot on its genome variants

Marta Giovanetti et al. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. .

Abstract

An acute respiratory syndrome (COVID-19), caused by a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) with a high rate of morbidity and elevate mortality, has emerged as one of the most important threats to humankind in the last centuries. Rigorous determination of SARS-CoV-2 infectivity is very difficult owing to the continuous evolution of the virus, with its single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) variants and many lineages. However, it is urgently necessary to study the virus in depth, to understand the mechanism of its pathogenicity and virulence, and to develop effective therapeutic strategies. The present contribution summarizes in a succinct way the current knowledge on the evolutionary and structural features of the virus, with the aim of clarifying its mutational pattern and its possible role in the ongoing pandemic.

Keywords: Evolution pattern; Mutation; Pandemic; SARS-CoV-2.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Genome architecture of SARS-CoV-2.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Maximum likelihood phylogeny was estimated with n = 143 complete genomes sequences from the current (2019–2020) SARS-CoV-2 epidemic plus n = 3 closely related bat strains plus n = 2 pangolin strains retrieved from GISAID. Number along branch represent bootstrap score. Scale bar represents expected substitutions per nucleotide site.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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