The year 2020 will forever be remembered as the starting point of the COVID-19 pandemic, declared by the World Health Organization. A revolution in the speed of information generation marked this period, especially concerning the characterization of SARS-CoV-2 and the understanding of COVID-19.
In just 12 days, from the hospital admission of a patient with characteristic COVID-19 symptoms to the publication in the prestigious journal Nature, the process of characterizing SARS-CoV-2 was remarkably efficient. In the study titled A New Coronavirus Associated with Human Respiratory Disease in China by Wu and collaborators (Wu et al. 2020), an advanced analytical method took center stage: meta-transcriptomics.
To better comprehend the pathogen infecting the patient, researchers employed high-coverage meta-transcriptomic sequencing through the Illumina MiniSeq platform. The biological sample from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid underwent de novo contig assembly, revealing a 30,474-nucleotide sequence closely related to the SARS-like coronavirus genome found in bats (CoV) and recorded in the GenBank.
The identified virus was named WH-Human 1 coronavirus (WHCV). Analysis of the viral sequence not only allowed for the inference of the transmission route but also uncovered mutations in the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the SPIKE protein. This mutation was crucial, enabling the viral lineage to bind to the ACE2 protein and thus infect human cells. Additionally, the research traced the evolutionary events that gave rise to the virus later known as SARS-CoV-2.
This study stands as a remarkable example of how contemporary sequencing techniques, combined with careful analysis of biological data tools, play a vital role in the early detection of pathogens and the timely identification of agents capable of triggering local or global outbreaks.
Stay updated on metatranscriptomics, metagenomics, NGS, pathogens, virus, and COVID-19, and discover how science is unveiling the secrets behind global health threats.