The high diversity of SARS-CoV-2-related coronaviruses in pangolins alerts potential ecological risks.

ABSTRACT: Understanding the zoonotic origin and evolution history of SARS-CoV-2 will provide critical insights for alerting and preventing future outbreaks. A significant gap remains for the possible role of pangolins as a reservoir of SARS-CoV-2 related coronaviruses (SC2r-CoVs). Here, we screened SC2r-CoVs in 172 samples from 163 pangolin individuals of four species, and detected positive signals in muscles of four Manis javanica and, for the first time, one M. pentadactyla. Phylogeographic analysis of pangolin mitochondrial DNA traced their origins from Southeast Asia. Using in-solution hybridization capture sequencing, we assembled a partial pangolin SC2r-CoV (pangolin-CoV) genome sequence of 22 895 bp (MP20) from the M. pentadactyla sample. Phylogenetic analyses revealed MP

SUBMITTER: Peng MS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8645874 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature