Molecular Determinants of SARS-CoV-2 Variants

Arinjay Banerjee; Karen Mossman; Nathalie Grandvaux

doi:10.1016/j.tim.2021.07.002

Molecular Determinants of SARS-CoV-2 Variants

Trends Microbiol. 2021 Oct;29(10):871-873. doi: 10.1016/j.tim.2021.07.002. Epub 2021 Jul 27.

Authors

Arinjay Banerjee¹, Karen Mossman², Nathalie Grandvaux³

Affiliations

¹ Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 5E3, Canada; Department of Veterinary Microbiology, Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 5B4, Canada; Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada. Electronic address: arinjay.banerjee@usask.ca.
² Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada; Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada; McMaster Immunology Research Centre, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada.
³ Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, H2X 0A9, Canada; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Université dé Montréal, Montreal, QC, H3C 3J7, Canada. Electronic address: nathalie.grandvaux@umontreal.ca.

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) evolution is expected, given the nature of virus replication. Selection and establishment of variants in the human population depend on viral fitness and on molecular and immunological selection pressures. Here we discuss how mechanisms of replication and recombination may contribute to the emergence of current and future variants of SARS-CoV-2.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; recombination; replication; variants.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

COVID-19 / virology*
Genome, Viral
Humans
Recombination, Genetic
SARS-CoV-2 / genetics*
SARS-CoV-2 / physiology
Virus Replication