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Review
. 2021;1(1):4.
doi: 10.1186/s44149-021-00004-w. Epub 2021 Apr 23.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) related coronavirus in bats

Rong Geng  1   2 , Peng Zhou  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) related coronavirus in bats

Rong Geng et al. Anim Dis. 2021.

Abstract

Three major human coronavirus disease outbreaks, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19), occurred in the twenty-first century and were caused by different coronaviruses (CoVs). All these viruses are considered to have originated from bats and transmitted to humans through intermediate hosts. SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2, disease agent of COVID-19, shared around 80% genomic similarity, and thus belong to SARS-related CoVs. As a natural reservoir of viruses, bats harbor numerous other SARS-related CoVs that could potentially infect humans around the world, causing SARS or COVID-19 like outbreaks in the future. In this review, we summarized the current knowledge of CoVs on geographical distribution, genetic diversity, cross-species transmission potential and possible pathogenesis in humans, aiming for a better understanding of bat SARS-related CoVs in the context of prevention and control.

Keywords: Bat; Cross-species; Geographical distribution; SARS-related coronavirus; Spillover.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interestsThe author declares that he/she has no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Geographical distribution of bat SARSr-CoVs (censor code of this map: S (2016) 1666). High-risk sequences, determined by a higher sequence similarity than WIV1 or RaTG13 to their respective reference sequences (SARS-CoV-1 or SARS-CoV-2). A conserved around 400 bp viral RdRp sequences were used for counting
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Genetic diversity of bat SARSr-CoVs. Partial RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) sequences downloaded from NCBI database were aligned to the corresponding regions from SARS-CoV-1 (BJ01, accession number AY278488.2) or SARS-CoV-2 (WIV04, accession number MN996528.1). Their sequence identity to reference were showed. Bat SARSr-CoVs WIV1 (accession number KC881006.1) and RaTG13 (accession number MN996532.2) were highlighted in green or red
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Spike gene analysis of bat SARSr-CoVs. a Phylogenetic tree of bat SARSr-CoVs S full-length sequences from NCBI database. Three different clades were shown. Bat MERS-related HKU4-CoV was used as outgroup. b Alignment of bat SARSr-CoVs receptor-binding motif (RBM) in spike protein. The residue numbers refer to corresponding regions in SARS-CoV-1 or SARS-CoV-2. Please refer to (a) for accession number or clade information for each viral strain. Dashes indicated residues absent. SP, signal peptide; NTD, N-terminal domain; FP, fusion peptide; HR1, heptad repeat 1; HR2, heptad repeat 2; TM, transmembrane domain; CP, cytoplasmic domain
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Spike gene analysis of bat SARSr-CoVs. a Phylogenetic tree of bat SARSr-CoVs S full-length sequences from NCBI database. Three different clades were shown. Bat MERS-related HKU4-CoV was used as outgroup. b Alignment of bat SARSr-CoVs receptor-binding motif (RBM) in spike protein. The residue numbers refer to corresponding regions in SARS-CoV-1 or SARS-CoV-2. Please refer to (a) for accession number or clade information for each viral strain. Dashes indicated residues absent. SP, signal peptide; NTD, N-terminal domain; FP, fusion peptide; HR1, heptad repeat 1; HR2, heptad repeat 2; TM, transmembrane domain; CP, cytoplasmic domain
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