July 28, 2020

Evolution of Viral Quasispecies during SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Clinical Characteristics and Health Care Setting

• Jary et al report on the genomic diversity of SARS-CoV-2 in longitudinal samples (n=7) collected from a single patient in Paris with mild symptoms early in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Majority consensus sequences were identical in five out of seven samples, differing from the Wuhan reference sequence by one synonymous mutation. Over two hundred minority variants were detected (median of 38 per sample), with four variants shared by different samples. Over half of mutations had moderate or high impact on gene expression, and variants differed between lower and upper respiratory tract samples collected on the same day. The authors suggest these results provide evidence of SARS-CoV-2 quasispecies that vary day-to-day and between anatomical sites. 

Jary et al. (July 2020). Evolution of Viral Quasispecies during SARS-CoV-2 Infection. Clinical Microbiology and Infection. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmi.2020.07.032