Rebai Ahmed, Souissi Amal, Abid Nabil, Masmoudi Saber
Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Screening Processes, Centre of Biotechnology of Sfax, University of Sfax, P. O. Box 1177, 3018 Sfax, Tunisia.
Laboratory of Transmissible Diseases and Biological Active Substances, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Monastir, 5000 Monastir, Tunisia.
EuroMediterr J Environ Integr. 2021;6(2):40. doi: 10.1007/s41207-021-00254-7. Epub 2021 Apr 2.
In this study, data available from GISAID on the whole-genome sequences of SARS-CoV-2 variants circulating in Tunisia were analyzed, and the prevalences of those variants in Tunisia were compared to their prevalences in other North African countries and around the world. Our results show new mutations and different prevalences of some lineages. In particular, new sets of mutations were identified in the spike protein of the virus during the analysis of 85 Tunisian samples, and the lineage B1.160 was found to be the most prevalent (18%) lineage in Tunisia. The prevalence of this lineage in Tunisia was significantly higher than its prevalence worldwide and in samples from neighboring countries (3%). This preliminary study shows the importance of tracking virus variants by next-generation sequencing in order to assess the dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of vaccination on the evolution of the virus.
在本研究中，分析了从全球共享流感数据倡议组织（GISAID）获取的突尼斯境内流行的新冠病毒变异株全基因组序列数据，并将这些变异株在突尼斯的流行率与其在其他北非国家和全球的流行率进行了比较。我们的结果显示了一些谱系出现了新的突变和不同的流行率。特别是，在对85份突尼斯样本的分析过程中，在病毒的刺突蛋白中发现了新的突变组，并且发现谱系B1.160是突尼斯最流行的（18%）谱系。该谱系在突尼斯的流行率显著高于其在全球和邻国样本中的流行率（3%）。这项初步研究表明了通过下一代测序追踪病毒变异株对于评估新冠疫情动态以及疫苗接种对病毒进化的影响的重要性。
