Mutation rates and selection on synonymous mutations in SARS-CoV-2.

ABSTRACT: The COVID-19 pandemic has seen an unprecedented response from the sequencing community. Leveraging the sequence data from more than 140,000 SARS-CoV-2 genomes, we study mutation rates and selective pressures affecting the virus. Understanding the processes and effects of mutation and selection has profound implications for the study of viral evolution, for vaccine design, and for the tracking of viral spread. We highlight and address some common genome sequence analysis pitfalls that can lead to inaccurate inference of mutation rates and selection, such as ignoring skews in the genetic code, not accounting for recurrent mutations, and assuming evolutionary equilibrium. We find that two particular mutation rates, G→U and C→U, are similarly elevated and considerably higher than all other mut

SUBMITTER: De Maio N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7814826 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature