SARS-CoV-2 Beta variant
501.V2 Variant, or simply 501.V2, is a variant of SARS-CoV-2—the virus that causes COVID-19. The variant was first detected in South Africa and reported by the country's health department on 18 December 2020.[1] Researchers and officials reported that the prevalence of the variant was higher among young people with no underlying health conditions, and by comparison with other variants it is more frequently resulting in serious illness in those cases.[2][3] The South African health department also indicated that the variant may be driving the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country due to the variant spreading at a more rapid pace than other earlier variants of the virus.[1][2]
Scientists noted that the variant contains several mutations that allows it to attach more easily to human cells because of following three mutations in the receptor-binding domain (RBD) in the spike glycoprotein of the virus: N501Y[1][4] (a change from asparagine (N) to tyrosine (Y)[5] in amino-acid position 501), K417N, and E484K.[6][7] The N501Y mutation has also been detected in Australia and the United Kingdom.[1][8]
Detection
The new variant has been uncovered by whole genome sequencing. Several genomic sequences from this lineage have already been submitted to the GISAID sequence database, for example sequence accession EPI_ISL_678597.
See also
- VOC-202012/01, also called B1.1.7., a variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus found in the United Kingdom
- Cluster 5, a variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus found in Denmark
References
- ^ a b c d "South Africa announces a new coronavirus variant". The New York Times. 18 December 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
- ^ a b Wroughton, Lesley; Bearak, Max (18 December 2020). "South Africa coronavirus: Second wave fueled by new strain, teen 'rage festivals'". The Washington Post. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
- ^ Mkhize, Dr Zwelini (18 December 2020). "Update on Covid-19 (18th December 2020)" (Press release). South Africa. COVID-19 South African Online Portal. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
Our clinicians have also warned us that things have changed and that younger, previously healthy people are now becoming very sick.
- ^ Abdool Karim, Salim S. (19 December 2020). "The 2nd Covid-19 wave in South Africa:Transmissibility & a 501.V2 variant". 11th slide. www.scribd.com.
- ^ For a list of the symbols used for the α-amino acids incorporated into protein under mRNA direction, see:
- "Nomenclature and Symbolism for Amino Acids and Peptides". IUPAC-IUB Joint Commission on Biochemical Nomenclature. 1983. Archived from the original on 9 October 2008. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
- ^ Statement of the WHO Working Group on COVID-19 Animal Models (WHO-COM) about the UK and South African SARS-CoV-2 new variants (PDF), World Health Organization, 22 December 2020, retrieved 23 December 2020
- ^ Lowe, Derek (22 December 2020). "The New Mutations". In The Pipeline. American Association for the Advancement of Science. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
I should note here that there's another strain in South Africa that is bringing on similar concerns. This one has eight mutations in the Spike protein, with three of them (K417N, E484K and N501Y) that may have some functional role.
- ^ "Novel mutation combination in spike receptor binding site" (Press release). GISAID. 21 December 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
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