Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 21, 2025

Live Imaging and Quantification of Viral Infection in K18 hACE2 Transgenic Mice Using Reporter-Expressing Recombinant SARS-CoV-2
Published on: November 5, 2021
Generation and transmission of interlineage recombinants in the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic
Ben Jackson1, Maciej F Boni2, Matthew J Bull3
1Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3FL, UK.
Abstract:
We present evidence for multiple independent origins of recombinant SARS-CoV-2 viruses sampled from late 2020 and early 2021 in the United Kingdom. Their genomes carry single-nucleotide polymorphisms and deletions that are characteristic of the B.1.1.7 variant of concern but lack the full complement of lineage-defining mutations. Instead, the remainder of their genomes share contiguous genetic variation with non-B.1.1.7 viruses circulating in the same geographic area at the same time as the recombinants. In four instances, there was evidence for onward transmission of a recombinant-origin virus, including one transmission cluster of 45 sequenced cases over the course of 2 months. The inferred genomic locations of recombination breakpoints suggest that every community-transmitted recombinant virus inherited its spike region from a B.1.1.7 parental virus, consistent with a transmission advantage for B.1.1.7's set of mutations.
Related Concept Videos
Viral Recombination
Viral Mutations
Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms-SNPs
Rous Sarcoma Virus (RSV) and Cancer
RSV is a retrovirus that contains two copies of a plus-strand RNA genome. Its genome consists of four main open...
Types of Genetic Transfer Between Organisms
Retroviruses

