The Progression of SARS Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2): Mutation in the Receptor Binding Domain of Spike Gene

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) is a positive-sense single-stranded RNA (+ssRNA) that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The viral genome encodes twelve genes for viral replication and infection. The third open reading frame is the spike (<i>S</i>) gene that encodes for the spike glycoprotein interacting with specific cell surface receptor - angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) - on the host cell membrane. Most recent studies identified a single point mutation in <i>S</i> gene. A single point mutation in <i>S</i> gene leading to an amino acid substitution at codon 614 from an aspartic acid 614 into glycine (D614G) resulted in greater infectivity compared to the wild type SARS-CoV2. We were interested in investigating the mutation region of <i>S</i> gene of SARS-CoV2 from Korean COVID-19 patients. New mutation sites were found in the critical receptor binding domain (RBD) of <i>S</i> gene, which is adjacent to the aforementioned D614G mutation residue. This specific sequence data demonstrated the active progression of SARS-CoV2 by mutations in the RBD of <i>S</i> gene. The sequence information of new mutations is critical to the development of recombinant SARS-CoV2 spike antigens, which may be required to improve and advance the strategy against a wide range of possible SARS-CoV2 mutations.