Abstract
SARS-CoV-2 has been mutating since it was first sequenced in early January 2020. Here, we analyze 45,494 complete SARS-CoV-2 geneome sequences in the world to understand their mutations. Among them, 12,754 sequences are from the United States. Our analysis suggests the presence of four substrains and eleven top mutations in the United States. These eleven top mutations belong to 3 disconnected groups. The first and second groups consisting of 5 and 8 concurrent mutations are prevailing, while the other group with three concurrent mutations gradually fades out. Moreover, we reveal that female immune systems are more active than those of males in responding to SARS-CoV-2 infections. One of the top mutations, 27964C > T-(S24L) on ORF8, has an unusually strong gender dependence. Based on the analysis of all mutations on the spike protein, we uncover that two of four SARS-CoV-2 substrains in the United States become potentially more infectious.
Highlights
SARS-CoV-2 has been mutating since it was first sequenced in early January 2020
The intrinsic viral infectivity can be measured by virus quantification that counts the number of viruses in a specific volume over a unit time by using either traditional or modern methods[17,18], including enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) that is based on protein–protein interactions (PPIs), such as antibody-antigen binding events, being counted by chromogenic or fluorescence reporters
Complete genome sequence data provide us with a wide variety of opportunities to decode the mutation-induced transmission and infection behavior of COVID-19
Summary
SARS-CoV-2 has been mutating since it was first sequenced in early January 2020. Here, we analyze 45,494 complete SARS-CoV-2 geneome sequences in the world to understand their mutations. Mutation 23403A>G-(D614G) located on the spike protein has the second-highest frequency in the United States, which has been considered as the key mutation that makes SARS-CoV-2 more infectious worldwide[12,41,42].
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