Mutations in SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA identified in Eastern India: Possible implications for the ongoing outbreak in India and impact on viral structure and host susceptibility

• DOI: 10.1007/s12038-020-00046-1
• Publication Date: 2020-06-04T04:42:19Z
• Authors: Arindam Maitra; Mamta Chawla Sarkar; Harsha Raheja; Nidhan K Biswas; Sohini Chakraborti; Animesh Kumar Singh; Shekhar Ghosh; Sumanta Sarkar; Subrata Patra; Rajiv Kumar Mondal; Trinath Ghosh; Ananya Chatterjee; Hasina Banu; Agniva Majumdar; Sreedhar Chinnaswamy; Narayanaswamy Sri...; Shanta Dutta; Saumitra Das
• Keywords: Nonsynonymous substitution; Viral protein; Coronavirus

Direct massively parallel sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 genome was undertaken from nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swab samples infected individuals in Eastern India. Seven the isolates belonged to A2a clade, while one B4 clade. Specific mutations, characteristic were also detected, which included P323L RNA-dependent RNA polymerase D614G Spike glycoprotein. Further, our data revealed emergence novel subclones harbouring nonsynonymous viz. G1124V (S) protein, R203K, G204R nucleocapsid (N) protein. The N protein mutations reside SR-rich region involved viral capsid formation S mutation is S2 domain, triggering fusion with host cell membrane. Interesting correlation observed between these travel or contact history COVID-19 positive cases. Consequent alterations miRNA binding structure predicted for mutations. More importantly, possible implications (in SD domain) subunit) on structural stability have been discussed. Results report first time a bird's eye view accumulation