TY  - JOUR
A1  - Gupta, Shishir K.
A1  - Minocha, Rashmi
A1  - Thapa, Prithivi Jung
A1  - Srivastava, Mugdha
A1  - Dandekar, Thomas
T1  - Role of the pangolin in origin of SARS-CoV-2: an evolutionary perspective
T2  - International Journal of Molecular Sciences
N2  - After the recent emergence of SARS-CoV-2 infection, unanswered questions remain related to its evolutionary history, path of transmission or divergence and role of recombination. There is emerging evidence on amino acid substitutions occurring in key residues of the receptor-binding domain of the spike glycoprotein in coronavirus isolates from bat and pangolins. In this article, we summarize our current knowledge on the origin of SARS-CoV-2. We also analyze the host ACE2-interacting residues of the receptor-binding domain of spike glycoprotein in SARS-CoV-2 isolates from bats, and compare it to pangolin SARS-CoV-2 isolates collected from Guangdong province (GD Pangolin-CoV) and Guangxi autonomous regions (GX Pangolin-CoV) of South China. Based on our comparative analysis, we support the view that the Guangdong Pangolins are the intermediate hosts that adapted the SARS-CoV-2 and represented a significant evolutionary link in the path of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 virus. We also discuss the role of intermediate hosts in the origin of Omicron.
KW  - COVID-19
KW  - SARS-CoV-2
KW  - origin
KW  - evolution
KW  - intermediate host
KW  - pangolin
KW  - mutation
KW  - recombination
KW  - adaptation
KW  - transmission
KW  - comparative sequence analysis
Y1  - 2022
UR  - https://opus.bibliothek.uni-wuerzburg.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/28599
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-285995
SN  - 1422-0067
VL  - 23
IS  - 16
ER  -