2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease Outbreak and Molecular Genetic Characteristics of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus-2
10.4167/jbv.2020.50.1.001
- Author:
Yong Seok JEONG
1
Author Information
1. Department of Biology, College of Sciences, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Korea. ysjeong@khu.ac.kr
- Publication Type:Review
- From:Journal of Bacteriology and Virology
2020;50(1):1-8
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
The 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreaks that emerged in Wuhan city, Hubei province, have led to a formidable number of confirmed cases that resulted in >5,700 deaths globally, including 143 countries in all 6 continents. The World Health Organization declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern with a very high level of global risk assessment. Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), the agent of COVID-19, has >79% nucleotide sequence homology to SARS-CoV; therefore, both belong to the genus betacoronavirus and subgenus sarbecovirus. The S1 domains of the two appeared to share the cellular receptor ACE2, but revealed a much higher S1-ACE2 binding affinity. As seen in many other human coronaviruses, SARS-CoV-2 also shows respiratory infection, but the basic reproductive number (Râ‚€) in transmission and the clinical latency are quite dissimilar from those of SARS- or MERS-CoVs. Many scientists infer that the time point of cross-barrier transfer from bats to mediate animals or to humans should be a rather recent event based on the full-length genome analyses obtained from the very first patients. Copy-choice polymerization, which often leads to a significant genome recombination rate in most coronaviruses, predicts the continued emergence of novel coronaviruses.
