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Recombination and Positive Selection Differentially Shaped the Diversity of Betacoronavirus Subgenera

The Betacoronavirus genus of mammal-infecting viruses includes three subgenera (Sarbecovirus, Embecovirus, and Merbecovirus), in which most known human coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, cluster. Coronaviruses are prone to host shifts, with recombination and positive selection possibly contributin...

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Autores principales: Forni, Diego, Cagliani, Rachele, Sironi, Manuela
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7698105/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33207802
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/v12111313
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author Forni, Diego
Cagliani, Rachele
Sironi, Manuela
author_facet Forni, Diego
Cagliani, Rachele
Sironi, Manuela
author_sort Forni, Diego
collection PubMed
description The Betacoronavirus genus of mammal-infecting viruses includes three subgenera (Sarbecovirus, Embecovirus, and Merbecovirus), in which most known human coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, cluster. Coronaviruses are prone to host shifts, with recombination and positive selection possibly contributing to their high zoonotic potential. We analyzed the role of these two forces in the evolution of viruses belonging to the Betacoronavirus genus. The results showed that recombination has been pervasive during sarbecovirus evolution, and it is more widespread in this subgenus compared to the other two. In both sarbecoviruses and merbecoviruses, recombination hotspots are clearly observed. Conversely, positive selection was a less prominent force in sarbecoviruses compared to embecoviruses and merbecoviruses and targeted distinct genomic regions in the three subgenera, with S being the major target in sarbecoviruses alone. Overall, the results herein indicate that Betacoronavirus subgenera evolved along different trajectories, which might recapitulate their host preferences or reflect the origins of the presently available coronavirus sequences.
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spelling pubmed-76981052020-11-29 Recombination and Positive Selection Differentially Shaped the Diversity of Betacoronavirus Subgenera Forni, Diego Cagliani, Rachele Sironi, Manuela Viruses Article The Betacoronavirus genus of mammal-infecting viruses includes three subgenera (Sarbecovirus, Embecovirus, and Merbecovirus), in which most known human coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, cluster. Coronaviruses are prone to host shifts, with recombination and positive selection possibly contributing to their high zoonotic potential. We analyzed the role of these two forces in the evolution of viruses belonging to the Betacoronavirus genus. The results showed that recombination has been pervasive during sarbecovirus evolution, and it is more widespread in this subgenus compared to the other two. In both sarbecoviruses and merbecoviruses, recombination hotspots are clearly observed. Conversely, positive selection was a less prominent force in sarbecoviruses compared to embecoviruses and merbecoviruses and targeted distinct genomic regions in the three subgenera, with S being the major target in sarbecoviruses alone. Overall, the results herein indicate that Betacoronavirus subgenera evolved along different trajectories, which might recapitulate their host preferences or reflect the origins of the presently available coronavirus sequences. MDPI 2020-11-16 /pmc/articles/PMC7698105/ /pubmed/33207802 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/v12111313 Text en © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Forni, Diego
Cagliani, Rachele
Sironi, Manuela
Recombination and Positive Selection Differentially Shaped the Diversity of Betacoronavirus Subgenera
title Recombination and Positive Selection Differentially Shaped the Diversity of Betacoronavirus Subgenera
title_full Recombination and Positive Selection Differentially Shaped the Diversity of Betacoronavirus Subgenera
title_fullStr Recombination and Positive Selection Differentially Shaped the Diversity of Betacoronavirus Subgenera
title_full_unstemmed Recombination and Positive Selection Differentially Shaped the Diversity of Betacoronavirus Subgenera
title_short Recombination and Positive Selection Differentially Shaped the Diversity of Betacoronavirus Subgenera
title_sort recombination and positive selection differentially shaped the diversity of betacoronavirus subgenera
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7698105/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33207802
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/v12111313
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