Genetic Variability of Human Respiratory Coronavirus OC43

Abstract

A recent paper by J. R. St-Jean and colleagues reported the complete genome sequences of the human coronavirus OC43 (HCoV-OC43) laboratory strain from the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) and an HCoV-OC43 clinical isolate, designated Paris (7). The ATCC HCoV-OC43 (VR759) strain originated in 1967 and was passaged several times in suckling mouse brain and in cell culture. The contemporary HCoV-OC43 Paris strain was isolated in 2001 and was subsequently cultured in an HRT-18 cell line by the authors. A high degree of genetic stability was stated for HCoV-OC43 since only six nucleotide variations in the whole genome could be observed between both HCoV-OC43 strains, with isolation dates 34 years apart. There are, however, some arguments to suggest that the HCoV-OC43 genome is not as stable as suggested by the authors and that the HCoV-OC43 Paris strain might not be a contemporary strain but might be a result of cross-contamination with the ATCC HCoV-OC43 strain.