Epistasis-Driven Evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 Secondary Structure.

ABSTRACT: Epistasis is an evolutionary phenomenon whereby the fitness effect of a mutation depends on the genetic background in which it arises. A key source of epistasis in an RNA molecule is its secondary structure, which contains functionally important topological motifs held together by hydrogen bonds between Watson-Crick (WC) base pairs. Here we study epistasis in the secondary structure of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) by examining properties of derived alleles arising from substitution mutations at ancestral WC base-paired and unpaired (UP) sites in 15 conserved topological motifs across the genome. We uncover fewer derived alleles and lower derived allele frequencies at WC than at UP sites, supporting the hypothesis that modifications to the secondary structure

SUBMITTER: Alemrajabi M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9523185 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature