Recently, researchers found a natural gene bank of the bat SARS coronavirus in Yunnan, China. The study revealed that Chinese bats carry different strains of SARS-CoV that spread across the species to the human population, revealing the possible recombination of the SARS coronavirus Origin, for the prevention of related diseases provides an important basis.
Bat is a natural storage host for the SARS coronavirus. Since 2005, several research teams have found more and more SARS-CoVs in various Asteridae in different parts of the world. However, all currently reported bat SARS coronaviruses have diverged from the SARS coronavirus at least in two genes. Questions such as how SARS evolved in bats and where bat populations appear have not been answered.
The research team has conducted long-term surveillance of the SARS coronavirus from a cave-headed Chrysomeelidae population in Yunnan province since 2011, and SARS-CoV RNA was detected in 64 bat-pellets and anal swab samples. Analysis shows that the bat SARS coronavirus circulating in this cave is highly diverse.
The experts conducted a genetic analysis of 11 newly discovered SARS coronaviruses and conducted genome-wide sequence analysis of 15 strains found in this cave. The results showed that the bat SARS-CoV circulating in the cave was similar to each other in non-structural protein genes, and some of their genes showed extremely rich genetic diversity. The entire genome of the SARS coronavirus can be found in the natural gene library of the SARS coronavirus.
Through further recombination analysis, experts found frequent recombination evidence at multiple sites within these SARS-CoV genes and speculate that a direct ancestry of the SARS-CoV may occur through a series of episodes of ancestry of these bat SARS-CoVs Restructurings and produce.