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Stepwise evolution and exceptional conservation of ORF1a/b overlap in coronaviruses (preprint)
biorxiv; 2021.
Preprint
in English
| bioRxiv | ID: ppzbmed-10.1101.2021.06.14.448413
ABSTRACT
The programmed frameshift element (PFE) rerouting translation from ORF1a to ORF1b is essential for propagation of coronaviruses. A combination of genomic features that make up PFE--the overlap between the two reading frames, a slippery sequence, as well as an ensemble of complex secondary structure elements--puts severe constraints on this region as most possible nucleotide substitution may disrupt one or more of these elements. The vast amount of SARS-CoV-2 sequencing data generated within the past year provides an opportunity to assess evolutionary dynamics of PFE in great detail. Here we performed a comparative analysis of all available coronaviral genomic data available to date. We show that the overlap between ORF1a and b evolved as a set of discrete 7, 16, 22, 25, and 31 nucleotide stretches with a well defined phylogenetic specificity. We further examined sequencing data from over 350,000 complete genomes and 55,000 raw read datasets to demonstrate exceptional conservation of the PFE region.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
Preprints
Database:
bioRxiv
Language:
English
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Preprint
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