SARS-CoV-2 BW lineage, a fast-growing Omicron variant from southeast Mexico bearing relevant escape mutations.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

The swift expansion of the BW.1 SARS-CoV-2 variant coincided with a rapid increase of COVID-19 cases occurring in Southeast Mexico in October, 2022, which marked the start of Mexico's sixth epidemiological wave. In Yucatan, up to 92% (58 of 73) of weekly sequenced genomes between epidemiological week 42 and 47 were identified as either BW.1 or its descendant, BW.1.1 in the region, during the last trimester of 2022. In the current study, a comprehensive genomic comparison was carried out to characterize the evolutionary history of the BW lineage, identifying its origins and its most important mutations.

Methods

An alignment of all the genomes of the BW lineage and its parental BA.5.6.2 variant was carried out to identify their mutations. A phylogenetic and ancestral s

SUBMITTER: Garcia-Lopez R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10103656 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature