All from Microbiology Division, Department of Health, Public Health Laboratory Services Branch, Centre for Health Protection, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China.
J Med Virol. 2021 Sep;93(9):5644-5647. doi: 10.1002/jmv.27063. Epub 2021 May 24.
In 2020, numerous fast-spreading severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants have been reported. These variants had unusually high genetic changes in the spike (S) protein. In an attempt to understand the genetic background of SARS-CoV-2 viruses in Hong Kong, especially before vaccination, the purpose of this study is to summarize the S protein mutations detected among coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients in Hong Kong in 2020. COVID-19 cases were selected every month in 2020. One virus from each case was analyzed. The full encoding region of the S proteins was sequenced. From January 2020 to December 2020, a total of 340 COVID-19 viruses were sequenced. The amino acids of the S protein for 44 (12.9%) were identical to the reference sequence, WIV04 (GenBank accession MN996528). For the remaining 296 sequences (87.1%), a total of 43 nonsynonymous substitution patterns were found. Of the nonsynonymous substitutions found, some of them were only detected at specific time intervals and then they disappeared. The ongoing genetic surveillance system is important. It would facilitate early detection of mutations that can increase infectivity as well as mutations that are selected for the virus to escape immunological restraint.
2020 年，出现了许多传播迅速的严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒 2（SARS-CoV-2）变异株。这些变异株的刺突（S）蛋白发生了异常高的遗传变化。本研究旨在了解香港 SARS-CoV-2 病毒的遗传背景，尤其是在疫苗接种之前，对 2020 年香港的 2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）患者中检测到的 S 蛋白突变进行总结。2020 年每个月选择 COVID-19 病例。对每个病例的一个病毒进行分析。对 S 蛋白的全长编码区进行测序。2020 年 1 月至 12 月，共对 340 株 COVID-19 病毒进行了测序。S 蛋白的 44 个氨基酸（12.9%）与参考序列 WIV04（GenBank 登录号 MN996528）相同。对于其余 296 个序列（87.1%），共发现 43 种非同义取代模式。在发现的非同义取代中，有些仅在特定时间间隔检测到，然后消失。持续的遗传监测系统很重要。它将有助于早期发现可能增加感染性的突变以及被病毒选择以逃避免疫抑制的突变。
