Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 21, 2025

Bacterial Artificial Chromosomes: A Functional Genomics Tool for the Study of Positive-strand RNA Viruses
Published on: December 29, 2015
SARS-CoV-2 Recombinants: Genomic Comparison between XBF and Its Parental Lineages
Fabio Scarpa1, Chiara Locci1,2, Ilenia Azzena1,2
1Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, 07100 Sassari, Italy.
Abstract:
Recombination events are very common and represent one of the primary drivers of RNA virus evolution. The XBF SARS-CoV-2 lineage is one of the most recently generated recombinants during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is a recombinant of BA.5.2.3 and BA.2.75.3, both descendants of lineages that caused many concerns (BA.5 and BA.2.75, respectively). Here, we performed a genomic survey focused on comparing the recombinant XBF with its parental lineages to provide a comprehensive assessment of the evolutionary potential, epidemiological trajectory, and potential risks. Genetic analyses indicated that although XBF initially showed the typical expansion depicted by a steep curve, causing several concerns, currently there is no indication of significant expansion potential or a contagion rate surpassing that of other currently active or previously prevalent lineages. BSP indicated that the peak has been reached around 19 October 2022 and then the genetic variability suffered slight oscillations until early 5 March 2023 when the population size reduced for the last time starting its last plateau that is still lasting. Structural analyses confirmed its reduced potential, also indicating that properties of NTDs and RBDs of XBF and its parental lineages present no significant difference. Of course, cautionary measures must still be taken and genome-based monitoring remains the best tool for detecting any important changes in viral genome composition.
More Related Videos
06:08Author Spotlight: A Pseudotype Virus System for Assessing Omicron Subvariants and Neutralizing Antibodies in SARS-CoV-2 Research
Published on: September 8, 2023
06:59Using Next Generation Sequencing to Identify Mutations Associated with Repair of a CAS9-induced Double Strand Break Near the CD4 Promoter
Published on: March 31, 2022
Related Concept Videos
Evolutionary Relationships through Genome Comparisons
Viral Recombination
Exon Recombination
Exon shuffling follows “splice frame rules.” Each exon...
Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms-SNPs
Synteny and Evolution
Around 80 million years ago, the human and mice lineages diverged from the common ancestor. During the course of evolution, the ancestral...
Comparing Copy Number Variations and SNPs
Copy number variations or CNVs are the structural variations that cover more than 1kb of DNA sequence. The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), on the other hand, is a single nucleotide change or a point mutation that is found in more than 1%...