Modern Medical Laboratory Journal

The novel respiratory disease COVID-19 has reached the status of worldwide pandemic and large efforts are currently being undertaken in molecularly characterizing the virus causing it, SARS-CoV-2. The genomic variability of SARS-CoV-2 specimens scattered across the globe can underly geographically specific etiological effects. Italian scientists analyzed and annotated all SARS-CoV-2 mutations compared with the reference Wuhan genome NC_045512.2, observing an average of 7.23 mutations per sample. Their analysis shows the prevalence of single nucleotide transitions as the major mutational type across the world. SARS-CoV-2 is a single-stranded RNA beta-coronavirus with a compact 29,903 nucleotides-long genome. Genetic variance analyses must now play a crucial role in expanding knowledge on this new virus to adopt measures to contain its outbreak. The existing detected mutations allow to group the samples into five distinct clades, G, GH, GR, S, and V, characterized by a collection of specific mutations. The clades can be further characterized by the most recent mutations and will likely be split even further in the future.
Moreover, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released an update on MAY 5 2021, about SARS-CoV-2 variant classifications and definitions which shows that genetic variants of SARS-CoV-2 have been emerging and circulating around the world throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. 
Read more