Genomic characterization of the 2019 novel human-pathogenic coronavirus isolated from a patient with atypical pneumonia after visiting Wuhan

Emerg Microbes Infect. 2020 Jan 28;9(1):221-236. doi: 10.1080/22221751.2020.1719902. eCollection 2020.

Abstract

A mysterious outbreak of atypical pneumonia in late 2019 was traced to a seafood wholesale market in Wuhan of China. Within a few weeks, a novel coronavirus tentatively named as 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) was announced by the World Health Organization. We performed bioinformatics analysis on a virus genome from a patient with 2019-nCoV infection and compared it with other related coronavirus genomes. Overall, the genome of 2019-nCoV has 89% nucleotide identity with bat SARS-like-CoVZXC21 and 82% with that of human SARS-CoV. The phylogenetic trees of their orf1a/b, Spike, Envelope, Membrane and Nucleoprotein also clustered closely with those of the bat, civet and human SARS coronaviruses. However, the external subdomain of Spike's receptor binding domain of 2019-nCoV shares only 40% amino acid identity with other SARS-related coronaviruses. Remarkably, its orf3b encodes a completely novel short protein. Furthermore, its new orf8 likely encodes a secreted protein with an alpha-helix, following with a beta-sheet(s) containing six strands. Learning from the roles of civet in SARS and camel in MERS, hunting for the animal source of 2019-nCoV and its more ancestral virus would be important for understanding the origin and evolution of this novel lineage B betacoronavirus. These findings provide the basis for starting further studies on the pathogenesis, and optimizing the design of diagnostic, antiviral and vaccination strategies for this emerging infection.

Keywords: Coronavirus; SARS; Wuhan; bioinformatics; emerging; genome; respiratory; virus.

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Betacoronavirus / genetics*
  • Betacoronavirus / isolation & purification
  • COVID-19
  • China
  • Coronavirus Infections / virology*
  • Genome, Viral*
  • Humans
  • Phylogeny
  • Pneumonia, Viral / virology*
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • Sequence Analysis, Protein
  • Travel
  • Viral Proteins / chemistry
  • Viral Proteins / genetics

Substances

  • Viral Proteins

Grants and funding

This study was partly supported by the donations of Michael Seak-Kan Tong, Respiratory Viral Research Foundation Limited, Hui Ming, Hui Hoy and Chow Sin Lan Charity Fund Limited, Chan Yin Chuen Memorial Charitable Foundation, Marina Man-Wai Lee, and the Hong Kong Hainan Commercial Association South China Microbiology Research Fund; and funding from the Consultancy Service for Enhancing Laboratory Surveillance of Emerging Infectious Diseases and Research Capability on Antimicrobial Resistance for Department of Health of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government; the Theme-Based Research Scheme (T11/707/15) of the Research Grants Council, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; Sanming Project of Medicine in Shenzhen, China (No. SZSM201911014); and the High Level-Hospital Program, Health Commission of Guangdong Province, China.