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El Mazouri S, Essabbar A, Aanniz T, Eljaoudi R, Belyamani L, Ibrahimi A, Ouadghiri M. Genetic diversity and evolutionary dynamics of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 in Morocco. Pathog Glob Health 2024; 118:241-252. [PMID: 37635364 PMCID: PMC11221468 DOI: 10.1080/20477724.2023.2250942] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Among the numerous variants of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that have been reported worldwide, the emergence of the Omicron variant has drastically changed the landscape of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Here, we analyzed the genetic diversity of Moroccan SARS-CoV-2 genomes with a focus on Omicron variant after one year of its detection in Morocco in order to understand its genomic dynamics, features and its potential introduction sources. From 937 Omicron genomes, we identified a total of 999 non-unique mutations distributed across 92 Omicron lineages, of which 13 were specific to the country. Our findings suggest multiple introductory sources of the Omicron variant to Morocco. In addition, we found that four Omicron clades are more infectious in comparison to other Omicron clades. Remarkably, a clade of Omicron is particularly more transmissible and has become the dominant variant worldwide. Moreover, our assessment of Receptor-Binding Domain (RBD) mutations showed that the Spike K444T and N460K mutations enabled a clade higher ability of immune vaccine escape. In conclusion, our analysis highlights the unique genetic diversity of the Omicron variant in Moroccan SARS-CoV-2 genomes, with multiple introductory sources and the emergence of highly transmissible clades. The distinctiveness of the Moroccan strains compared to global ones underscores the importance of ongoing surveillance and understanding of local genomic dynamics for effective response strategies in the evolving COVID-19 pandemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Safae El Mazouri
- Laboratory of Biotechnology, Medical and Pharmacy School, Mohammed V University, Rabat, Morocco
| | - Abdelmounim Essabbar
- Laboratory of Biotechnology, Medical and Pharmacy School, Mohammed V University, Rabat, Morocco
| | - Tarik Aanniz
- Laboratory of Biotechnology, Medical and Pharmacy School, Mohammed V University, Rabat, Morocco
| | - Rachid Eljaoudi
- Laboratory of Biotechnology, Medical and Pharmacy School, Mohammed V University, Rabat, Morocco
- Mohammed VI Center for Research & Innovation, Mohammed VI University of Health Sciences, Casablanca, Morocco
| | - Lahcen Belyamani
- Laboratory of Biotechnology, Medical and Pharmacy School, Mohammed V University, Rabat, Morocco
- Mohammed VI Center for Research & Innovation, Mohammed VI University of Health Sciences, Casablanca, Morocco
- Emergency Department, Military Hospital Mohammed V, Rabat, Morocco
| | - Azeddine Ibrahimi
- Laboratory of Biotechnology, Medical and Pharmacy School, Mohammed V University, Rabat, Morocco
- Mohammed VI Center for Research & Innovation, Mohammed VI University of Health Sciences, Casablanca, Morocco
| | - Mouna Ouadghiri
- Laboratory of Biotechnology, Medical and Pharmacy School, Mohammed V University, Rabat, Morocco
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Fang L, Xu J, Zhao Y, Fan J, Shen J, Liu W, Cao G. The effects of amino acid substitution of spike protein and genomic recombination on the evolution of SARS-CoV-2. Front Microbiol 2023; 14:1228128. [PMID: 37560529 PMCID: PMC10409611 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1228128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2023] [Accepted: 07/03/2023] [Indexed: 08/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Over three years' pandemic of 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), multiple variants and novel subvariants have emerged successively, outcompeted earlier variants and become predominant. The sequential emergence of variants reflects the evolutionary process of mutation-selection-adaption of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Amino acid substitution/insertion/deletion in the spike protein causes altered viral antigenicity, transmissibility, and pathogenicity of SARS-CoV-2. Early in the pandemic, D614G mutation conferred virus with advantages over previous variants and increased transmissibility, and it also laid a conservative background for subsequent substantial mutations. The role of genomic recombination in the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 raised increasing concern with the occurrence of novel recombinants such as Deltacron, XBB.1.5, XBB.1.9.1, and XBB.1.16 in the late phase of pandemic. Co-circulation of different variants and co-infection in immunocompromised patients accelerate the emergence of recombinants. Surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 genomic variations, particularly spike protein mutation and recombination, is essential to identify ongoing changes in the viral genome and antigenic epitopes and thus leads to the development of new vaccine strategies and interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Letian Fang
- Key Laboratory of Biological Defense, Ministry of Education, Shanghai, China
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Medical Bioprotection, Shanghai, China
- Department of Epidemiology, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China
| | - Jie Xu
- Department of Foreign Languages, International Exchange Center for Military Medicine, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yue Zhao
- Key Laboratory of Biological Defense, Ministry of Education, Shanghai, China
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Medical Bioprotection, Shanghai, China
- Department of Epidemiology, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China
| | - Junyan Fan
- Key Laboratory of Biological Defense, Ministry of Education, Shanghai, China
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Medical Bioprotection, Shanghai, China
- Department of Epidemiology, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China
| | - Jiaying Shen
- School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
| | - Wenbin Liu
- Key Laboratory of Biological Defense, Ministry of Education, Shanghai, China
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Medical Bioprotection, Shanghai, China
- Department of Epidemiology, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China
| | - Guangwen Cao
- Key Laboratory of Biological Defense, Ministry of Education, Shanghai, China
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Medical Bioprotection, Shanghai, China
- Department of Epidemiology, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China
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Bloom JD, Neher RA. Fitness effects of mutations to SARS-CoV-2 proteins. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.01.30.526314. [PMID: 36778462 PMCID: PMC9915511 DOI: 10.1101/2023.01.30.526314] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Knowledge of the fitness effects of mutations to SARS-CoV-2 can inform assessment of new variants, design of therapeutics resistant to escape, and understanding of the functions of viral proteins. However, experimentally measuring effects of mutations is challenging: we lack tractable lab assays for many SARS-CoV-2 proteins, and comprehensive deep mutational scanning has been applied to only two SARS-CoV-2 proteins. Here we develop an approach that leverages millions of publicly available SARS-CoV-2 sequences to estimate effects of mutations. We first calculate how many independent occurrences of each mutation are expected to be observed along the SARS-CoV-2 phylogeny in the absence of selection. We then compare these expected observations to the actual observations to estimate the effect of each mutation. These estimates correlate well with deep mutational scanning measurements. For most genes, synonymous mutations are nearly neutral, stop-codon mutations are deleterious, and amino-acid mutations have a range of effects. However, some viral accessory proteins are under little to no selection. We provide interactive visualizations of effects of mutations to all SARS-CoV-2 proteins (https://jbloomlab.github.io/SARS2-mut-fitness/). The framework we describe is applicable to any virus for which the number of available sequences is sufficiently large that many independent occurrences of each neutral mutation are observed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jesse D. Bloom
- Basic Sciences and Computational Biology, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
- Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute
| | - Richard A. Neher
- Biozentrum, University of Basel
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics
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Dadonaite B, Crawford KHD, Radford CE, Farrell AG, Yu TC, Hannon WW, Zhou P, Andrabi R, Burton DR, Liu L, Ho DD, Chu HY, Neher RA, Bloom JD. A pseudovirus system enables deep mutational scanning of the full SARS-CoV-2 spike. Cell 2023; 186:1263-1278.e20. [PMID: 36868218 PMCID: PMC9922669 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2023.02.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 34.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2022] [Revised: 01/11/2023] [Accepted: 01/31/2023] [Indexed: 02/15/2023]
Abstract
A major challenge in understanding SARS-CoV-2 evolution is interpreting the antigenic and functional effects of emerging mutations in the viral spike protein. Here, we describe a deep mutational scanning platform based on non-replicative pseudotyped lentiviruses that directly quantifies how large numbers of spike mutations impact antibody neutralization and pseudovirus infection. We apply this platform to produce libraries of the Omicron BA.1 and Delta spikes. These libraries each contain ∼7,000 distinct amino acid mutations in the context of up to ∼135,000 unique mutation combinations. We use these libraries to map escape mutations from neutralizing antibodies targeting the receptor-binding domain, N-terminal domain, and S2 subunit of spike. Overall, this work establishes a high-throughput and safe approach to measure how ∼105 combinations of mutations affect antibody neutralization and spike-mediated infection. Notably, the platform described here can be extended to the entry proteins of many other viruses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bernadeta Dadonaite
- Basic Sciences Division and Computational Biology Program, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Katharine H D Crawford
- Basic Sciences Division and Computational Biology Program, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA 98109, USA; Department of Genome Sciences & Medical Scientist Training Program, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Caelan E Radford
- Basic Sciences Division and Computational Biology Program, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA 98109, USA; Molecular and Cellular Biology Graduate Program, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Ariana G Farrell
- Basic Sciences Division and Computational Biology Program, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Timothy C Yu
- Basic Sciences Division and Computational Biology Program, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA 98109, USA; Molecular and Cellular Biology Graduate Program, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - William W Hannon
- Basic Sciences Division and Computational Biology Program, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA 98109, USA; Molecular and Cellular Biology Graduate Program, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Panpan Zhou
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA; IAVI Neutralizing Antibody Center, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA; Consortium for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Development (CHAVD), The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
| | - Raiees Andrabi
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA; IAVI Neutralizing Antibody Center, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA; Consortium for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Development (CHAVD), The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
| | - Dennis R Burton
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA; IAVI Neutralizing Antibody Center, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA; Consortium for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Development (CHAVD), The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA; Ragon Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital, MIT & Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Lihong Liu
- Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY, USA
| | - David D Ho
- Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY, USA; Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY 10032, USA; Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY 10032, USA
| | - Helen Y Chu
- University of Washington, Department of Medicine, Division of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Richard A Neher
- Biozentrum, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland; Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Jesse D Bloom
- Basic Sciences Division and Computational Biology Program, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA 98109, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
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Focosi D, Quiroga R, McConnell S, Johnson MC, Casadevall A. Convergent Evolution in SARS-CoV-2 Spike Creates a Variant Soup from Which New COVID-19 Waves Emerge. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:2264. [PMID: 36768588 PMCID: PMC9917121 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24032264] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 54.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2022] [Revised: 12/27/2022] [Accepted: 12/27/2022] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
The first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic were mainly characterized by recurrent mutations of SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein at residues K417, L452, E484, N501 and P681 emerging independently across different variants of concern (Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta). Such homoplasy is a marker of convergent evolution. Since Spring 2022 and the third year of the pandemic, with the advent of Omicron and its sublineages, convergent evolution has led to the observation of different lineages acquiring an additional group of mutations at different amino acid residues, namely R346, K444, N450, N460, F486, F490, Q493, and S494. Mutations at these residues have become increasingly prevalent during Summer and Autumn 2022, with combinations showing increased fitness. The most likely reason for this convergence is the selective pressure exerted by previous infection- or vaccine-elicited immunity. Such accelerated evolution has caused failure of all anti-Spike monoclonal antibodies, including bebtelovimab and cilgavimab. While we are learning how fast coronaviruses can mutate and recombine, we should reconsider opportunities for economically sustainable escape-proof combination therapies, and refocus antibody-mediated therapeutic efforts on polyclonal preparations that are less likely to allow for viral immune escape.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniele Focosi
- North-Western Tuscany Blood Bank, Pisa University Hospital, 56124 Pisa, Italy
| | - Rodrigo Quiroga
- Instituto de Investigaciones en Físico-Química de Córdoba (INFIQC-CONICET), Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Cordova 5000, Argentina
| | - Scott McConnell
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Marc C. Johnson
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, University of Missouri School of Medicine, Columbia, MO 65201, USA
| | - Arturo Casadevall
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
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