New tracing strategy found that the origin of the new coronavirus conforms to the natural evolutionary process

New tracing strategy found that the origin of the new coronavirus conforms to the natural evolutionary process

Can the historical host be inferred through genetic mutation of the virus?

On August 31, the reporter learned from the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences that the researchers of the Institute proposed a new novel coronavirus traceability strategy, which is to infer the historical host of the new coronavirus by identifying the spectral characteristics of the new coronavirus gene mutation.

Studies have found that the mutation characteristics accumulated by the new coronavirus before the outbreak are highly consistent with the cell environment of wild bats (especially chrysanthemum bats), which means that the origin of the new coronavirus is in line with the natural evolutionary process

At present, the bat virus RaTG13 isolated from the genus Rhinolophus that is closest to the genome sequence of the new coronavirus has been found by research.

In view of this, the researchers proposed a tracing strategy to speculate the historical host of the new coronavirus by using the spectral characteristics of the more than 500 mutations of the new coronavirus

The researchers first confirmed the prerequisites that this strategy needs to meet

After establishing the theoretical basis for the new tracing strategy, the researchers constructed the evolutionary tree of SARS virus, Middle East respiratory syndrome virus, new coronavirus and 16 related coronaviruses

"By identifying the mutations accumulated at different periods in the evolutionary history of these viruses, we found that viruses derived from different hosts have different mutation characteristics

In order to speculate on the evolutionary history of the new coronavirus, the researchers analyzed the mutation characteristics of the new coronavirus during this period and found that the mutation characteristics accumulated by the new coronavirus before the outbreak are highly consistent with the cell environment of wild bats (especially chrysanthemum bats).

(Science and Technology Daily, Beijing, August 31st)