Geographical structure of bat SARS-related coronaviruses

Ping Yu; Ben Hu; Zheng-Li Shi; Jie Cui

doi:10.1016/j.meegid.2019.02.001

Geographical structure of bat SARS-related coronaviruses

Infect Genet Evol. 2019 Apr:69:224-229. doi: 10.1016/j.meegid.2019.02.001. Epub 2019 Feb 6.

Authors

Ping Yu¹, Ben Hu², Zheng-Li Shi², Jie Cui³

Affiliations

¹ CAS Key Laboratory of Special Pathogens and Biosafety, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
² CAS Key Laboratory of Special Pathogens and Biosafety, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China.
³ CAS Key Laboratory of Special Pathogens and Biosafety, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China. Electronic address: [email protected].

Abstract

Bats are the natural reservoirs of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) which caused the outbreak of human SARS in 2002-2003. We introduce the genetic diversity of SARS-related coronaviruses (SARSr-CoVs) discovered in bats and provide insights on the bat origin of human SARS. We also analyze the viral geographical structure that may improve our understanding of the evolution of bat SARSr-CoVs.

Keywords: Bats; Geographical structure; Host switch; Phylogeny; SARS.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Chiroptera / virology*
Disease Reservoirs / virology
Evolution, Molecular
Genetic Variation
Genome, Viral
Geography, Medical
Humans
Phylogeny*
Phylogeography*
Recombination, Genetic
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome / epidemiology
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome / transmission
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome / virology
Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus / classification*
Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus / genetics*