Chen Ye, Xu Quanming, Yuan Xiaomin, Li Xinxin, Zhu Ting, Ma Yanmei, Chen Ji-Long
Key Laboratory of Fujian-Taiwan Animal Pathogen Biology, College of Animal Sciences, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, China.
College of Life Sciences, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, China.
Oncotarget. 2017 Nov 27;8(66):110337-110349. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.22738. eCollection 2017 Dec 15.
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV), which first broken out in Jeddah in 2012, causes a severe acute respiratory illness with a high mortality rate. To better understand the molecular characteristics of isolated MERS-CoV genomes, we first analysed the codon usage pattern of the zoonotic MERS-CoV strains comprehensively to gain an insight into the mechanism of cross-species transmission. We found that MERS human/camel isolates showed a low codon usage bias. Both mutation and nature selection pressure have contributed to this low codon usage bias, with the former being the main determining factor. We also observed that gene function, evolution time and the different host species of the virus all contributed to the bias of MERS-CoV, to some extent. Additionally, the codon usage pattern of MERS-CoV isolates is different from other related Nidovirales viruses isolated from bats and hedgehogs. In the future, more epidemiological surveys are required to examine the factors that resulted in the emergence and outbreak of this virus.
中东呼吸综合征冠状病毒（MERS-CoV）于2012年首次在吉达爆发，可引发严重的急性呼吸道疾病，死亡率很高。为了更好地了解分离出的MERS-CoV基因组的分子特征，我们首先全面分析了人畜共患MERS-CoV毒株的密码子使用模式，以深入了解跨物种传播的机制。我们发现，人类/骆驼分离出的MERS-CoV显示出较低的密码子使用偏好。突变和自然选择压力都导致了这种低密码子使用偏好，其中前者是主要决定因素。我们还观察到，基因功能、进化时间以及病毒的不同宿主物种在一定程度上都导致了MERS-CoV的偏好。此外，MERS-CoV分离株的密码子使用模式与从蝙蝠和刺猬中分离出的其他相关尼多病毒不同。未来，需要更多的流行病学调查来研究导致这种病毒出现和爆发的因素。
