Discovery of a rich gene pool of bat SARS-related coronaviruses provides new insights into the origin of SARS coronavirus
Authors: Xing-Lou Yang
Jia-Zheng Xie
Bei Li
Lin-Fa Wang
Zheng-Li Shi
Xiao-Shuang Zheng
Ning Wang
Ben Hu
Lei-Ping Zeng
Xu-Rui Shen
Xing-Yi Ge
Wei Zhang
Mei-Niang Wang
Peter Daszak
Yun-Zhi Zhang
Jie Cui
Dong-Sheng Luo
Journal: PLoS Pathogens (2017)
Discipline: MICROBIOLOGY
Keywords: SARS-related coronaviruses; horseshoe bats; China; genome diversity; genetic similarity
Affiliations: CAS Key Laboratory of Special Pathogens and Biosafety, Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases of Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China., Yunnan Institute of Endemic Diseases Control and Prevention, Dali, China., Dali University, Dali, China., EcoHealth Alliance, New York, New York, United States of America., Programme in Emerging Infectious Diseases, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore.

Abstract:  A large number of SARS-related coronaviruses (SARSr-CoV) have been detected in horseshoe bats since 2005 in different areas of China. However, these bat SARSr-CoVs show sequence differences from SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV) in different genes (S, ORF8, ORF3, etc) and are considered unlikely to represent the direct progenitor of SARS-CoV. Herein, we report the findings of our 5-year surveillance of SARSr-CoVs in a cave inhabited by multiple species of horseshoe bats in Yunnan Province, China. The full-length genomes of 11 newly discovered SARSr-CoV strains, together with our previous findings, reveals that the SARSr-CoVs circulating in this single location are highly diverse in the S gene, ORF3 and ORF8. Importantly, strains with high genetic similarity to SARS-CoV in the hypervariable N-terminal domain (NTD) and receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the S1 gene, the ORF3 and ORF8 region, respectively, were all discovered in this cave. In addition, we report the first discovery of bat SARSr-CoVs highly similar to human SARS-CoV in ORF3b and in the split ORF8a and 8b. Moreover, SARSr-CoV strains from this cave were more closely related to SARS-CoV in the non-structural protein genes ORF1a and 1b compared with those detected elsewhere. Recombination analysis shows evidence of frequent recombination events within the S gene and around the ORF8 between these SARSr-CoVs. We hypothesize that the direct progenitor of SARS-CoV may have originated after sequential recombination events between the precursors of these SARSr-CoVs. Cell entry studies demonstrated that three newly identified SARSr-CoVs with different S protein sequences are all able to use human ACE2 as the receptor, further exhibiting the close relationship between strains in this cave and SARS-CoV. This work provides new insights into the origin and evolution of SARS-CoV and highlights the necessity of preparedness for future emergence of SARS-like diseases. 

Retracted: No

PubPeer comments:
 https: twitter.com franciscodeasis status 1415367555779289091?s=20 , 
 https: twitter.com scotub status 1415399876213444608?s=20 , 
 The images in this paper are apparently the same as the ones in PhD thesis for a totally different study (Zeng 2017). Zeng (2017) is the PhD thesis of Lei-ping Zeng (u66feu78cau5e73) written at WIV under the supervision of Dr. ZhengLi Shi. Thesis Title: u8759u8760SARSu6837u51a0u72b6u75c5u6bd2u7684u53cdu5411u9057u4f20u5b66u7cfbu7edfu7684u5efau7acbu53caORFXu529fu80fdu7814u7a76 The thesis copy can be found here: https: drive.google.com drive folders 1cJBYAkjkZX9KbNfHCaeaaMhNDgff1elg ![file] ,