Recombination analysis on the receptor switching event of MERS-CoV and its close relatives: implications for the emergence of MERS-CoV.

ABSTRACT:

Background

PlMERS-CoV is a coronavirus known to cause severe disease in humans, taxonomically classified under the subgenus Merbecovirus. Recent findings showed that the close relatives of MERS-CoV infecting vespertillionid bats (family Vespertillionidae), named NeoCoV and PDF-2180, use their hosts' ACE2 as their entry receptor, unlike the DPP4 receptor usage of MERS-CoV. Previous research suggests that this difference in receptor usage between these related viruses is a result of recombination. However, the precise location of the recombination breakpoints and the details of the recombination event leading to the change of receptor usage remain unclear.

Methods

We used maximum likelihood-based phylogenetics and genetic similarity comparisons to characterise the evolutionary

SUBMITTER: Tolentino JE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11008012 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature