Translation-Associated Mutational U-Pressure in the First ORF of SARS-CoV-2 and Other Coronaviruses.

ABSTRACT: Within 4 months of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2, more than 250 nucleotide mutations have been detected in ORF1ab of the virus isolated from infected persons from different parts of the globe. These observations open up an obvious question about the rate and direction of mutational pressure for further vaccine and therapeutics designing. In this study, we did a comparative analysis of ORF1a and ORF1b by using the first isolate (Wuhan strain) as the parent sequence. We observed that most of the nucleotide mutations are C to U transitions. The rate of synonymous C to U transitions is significantly higher than the rate of non-synonymous ones, indicating negative selection on amino acid substitutions. Further, trends in nucleotide usage bias have been investigated in 49 co

SUBMITTER: Khrustalev VV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7536284 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature