New crown-associated coronavirus found in British bats for the first time

Written | Edited by Wang Cong | Typeset by Wang Duoyu | SARS-CoV-2 belongs to the subgenus of β-coronavirus sarbecovirus.
The SARS-CoV that broke out more than ten years ago also belongs to the subgenus of sarbecovirus
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There are more than 1,400 kinds of bats in the world.
They carry a large number of viruses.
They are the natural hosts of many deadly human viruses, especially the chrysanthemum bats.
They are the key suspects of the natural host of the new crown virus.
Researchers believe that it is likely that bats will The new crown virus was transmitted to the intermediate host of pangolin and then to humans.
At present, multiple new crown-related coronaviruses have been found in chrysanthemum bats
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On July 19, 2021, researchers from the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom, the Zoological Society of London and the Public Health Agency of the United Kingdom published a research paper entitled: Metagenomic identification of a new sarbecovirus from horseshoe bats in Europe in Scientific Reports
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The research team discovered a new coronavirus related to the new coronavirus in British horseshoe bats—RhGB01.
The amino acid sequence of the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the spike protein (S protein) of the coronavirus is similar to SARS-CoV.
-2 has 77% homology and 81% homology with SARS-CoV
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This study shows that the natural distribution of sarbecovirus and the chance of recombination through co-infection with intermediate hosts are underestimated
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There is currently no evidence that this new virus can be transmitted to humans, or that it may spread in the future
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But researchers worry that the current large-scale outbreak of the new coronavirus may be transmitted to chrysanthemum bats, which will cause the virus to reorganize and make it capable of infecting humans
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This discovery originated from Ivana Murphy, a senior at the University of East Anglia.
As part of her graduation thesis, she captured 53 British chrysanthemum bats in Somerset, Gloucestershire and Wales in the United Kingdom and collected them.
Stool samples are then sent to the Department of Public Health England for virus analysis
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The research team stated that the study was conducted under strict protection.
Ivana Murphy was also tested regularly for new crowns throughout the process to avoid any possible cross-contamination.
The bats were immediately released after collecting feces
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Through gene sequencing, the research team discovered a new coronavirus in one of the bat samples, which the team named "RhGB01"
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The amino acid sequence of the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the spike protein (S protein) of RhGB01 has 77% homology with SARS-CoV-2 and 81% homology with SARS-CoV
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This is the first time that sarbecovirus has been found in British chrysanthemum bats
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This also indicates that the entire chrysanthemum bats in Australia, Asia, Europe, and Africa may carry sarbecovirus
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The corresponding author of the study, Professor Andrew Cunningham of the Zoological Society of London, said that the results of this study emphasized that the natural distribution of sarbecovirus and the chance of recombination through co-infection of intermediate hosts were underestimated
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Although the newly discovered RhGB01 virus cannot directly infect humans, the problem is that if bats carrying the RhGB01 virus are infected with the new coronavirus, the two viruses may recombine in the bats, resulting in RhGB01 having the ability to infect humans.

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Therefore, the research team emphasized that anyone who comes into contact with bats or their feces, such as those engaged in cave exploration or bat research and protection, should wear strict protective equipment to prevent bats from infecting humans and prevent humans from carrying them.
The coronavirus spreads to bats
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