Can Coronaviruses Steal Genes from the Host as Evidenced in Western European Hedgehogs by EriCoV Genetic Characterization?

ABSTRACT: Due to their need for living cells, viruses have developed adaptive evolutionary strategies to survive and perpetuate in reservoir hosts that play a crucial role in the ecology of emerging pathogens. Pathogenic and potentially pandemic betacoronaviruses arose in humans in 2002 (SARS-CoV, disappeared in July 2003), 2012 (MERS-CoV, still circulating in Middle East areas), and 2019 (SARS-CoV-2, causing the current global pandemic). As universally recognized, bats host ancestors of the above-mentioned zoonotic viruses. However, hedgehogs have been recently identified in Europe and Asia as possible reservoirs of MERS-CoV-like strains classified as Erinaceus coronavirus (EriCoV). To elucidate the evolution and genetics of EriCoVs, NGS (next generation sequencing) and Sanger sequencing wer

SUBMITTER: De Sabato L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7765933 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature