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Published on: December 9, 2022
Characterization of SARS-CoV-2 Mutational Signatures from 1.5+ Million Raw Sequencing Samples
Andrea Aroldi1,2, Fabrizio Angaroni3,4, Deborah D'Aliberti2
1Hematology and Clinical Research Unit, San Gerardo Hospital, Via G. B. Pergolesi 33, 20900 Monza, Italy.
Abstract:
We present a large-scale analysis of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) substitutions, considering 1,585,456 high-quality raw sequencing samples, aimed at investigating the existence and quantifying the effect of mutational processes causing mutations in SARS-CoV-2 genomes when interacting with the human host. As a result, we confirmed the presence of three well-differentiated mutational processes likely ruled by reactive oxygen species (ROS), apolipoprotein B editing complex (APOBEC), and adenosine deaminase acting on RNA (ADAR). We then evaluated the activity of these mutational processes in different continental groups, showing that some samples from Africa present a significantly higher number of substitutions, most likely due to higher APOBEC activity. We finally analyzed the activity of mutational processes across different SARS-CoV-2 variants, and we found a significantly lower number of mutations attributable to APOBEC activity in samples assigned to the Omicron variant.
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