The Long-Term Evolutionary History of Gradual Reduction of CpG Dinucleotides in the SARS-CoV-2 Lineage.

ABSTRACT: Recent studies suggested that the fraction of CG dinucleotides (CpG) is severely reduced in the genome of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The CpG deficiency was predicted to be the adaptive response of the virus to evade degradation of the viral RNA by the antiviral zinc finger protein that specifically binds to CpG nucleotides. By comparing all representative genomes belonging to the genus Betacoronavirus, this study examined the potential time of origin of CpG depletion. The results of this investigation revealed a highly significant correlation between the proportions of CpG nucleotide (CpG content) of the betacoronavirus species and their times of divergence from SARS-CoV-2. Species that are distantly related to SARS-CoV-2 had much higher CpG contents than

SUBMITTER: Subramanian S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7828247 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature