SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance in Taiwan revealed novel ORF8-deletion mutant and clade possibly associated with infections in Middle East

Yu Nong Gong, Kuo Chien Tsao, Mei Jen Hsiao, Chung Guei Huang, Peng Nien Huang, Po Wei Huang, Kuo Ming Lee, Yi Chun Liu, Shu Li Yang, Rei Lin Kuo, Kuan Fu Chen, Yen Chin Liu, Sheng Yu Huang, Hsing I. Huang, Ming Tsan Liu, Ji Rong Yang, Cheng Hsun Chiu, Cheng Ta Yang, Guang Wu Chen*, Shin Ru Shih*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal Article peer-review

93 Scopus citations

Abstract

Taiwan experienced two waves of imported infections with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). This study aimed at investigating the genomic variation of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Taiwan and compared their evolutionary trajectories with the global strains. We performed culture and full-genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 strains followed by phylogenetic analysis. A 382-nucleotides deletion in open reading frame 8 (ORF8) was found in a Taiwanese strain isolated from a patient on February 4, 2020 who had a travel history to Wuhan. Patients in the first wave also included several sporadic, local transmission cases. Genomes of 5 strains sequenced from clustered infections were classified into a new clade with ORF1ab-V378I mutation, in addition to 3 dominant clades ORF8-L84S, ORF3a-G251V and S-D614G. This highlighted clade also included some strains isolated from patients who had a travel history to Turkey and Iran. The second wave mostly resulted from patients who had a travel history to Europe and Americas. All Taiwanese viruses were classified into various clades. Genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in Taiwan revealed a new ORF8-deletion mutant and a virus clade that may be associated with infections in the Middle East, which contributed to a better understanding of the global SARS-CoV-2 transmission dynamics.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1457-1466
Number of pages10
JournalEmerging Microbes and Infections
Volume9
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 01 01 2020

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group, on behalf of Shanghai Shangyixun Cultural Communication Co., Ltd.

Keywords

  • COVID-19
  • ORF8 deletion
  • Phylogeny
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • genome sequencing

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