A discernable increase in the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 R.1 lineage carrying an E484K spike protein mutation in Japan
Tsuyoshi Sekizuka, Kentaro Itokawa, Masanori Hashino, Kazuhiro Okubo, Asami Ohnishi, Keiko Goto, Hiroyuki Tsukagoshi, Hayato Ehara, Ryohei Nomoto, Makoto Ohnishi, Makoto Kuroda
Abstract
Three COVID-19 waves in Japan have been characterized by the presence of distinct PANGO lineages (B.1.1. 162, B.1.1.284, and B.1.1.214). Recently, in addition to the B.1.1.7 lineage, which shows 25% abundance, an R.1 lineage carrying the E484K mutation in the spike protein was found to show up to 40% predominance. E484K could be a pivotal amino acid substitution with the potential to mediate immune escape; thus, more attention should be paid to such potential variants of concern to avoid the emergence of mutants of concern. Such comprehensive real-time genome surveillance has become essential for the containment of COVID-19 clusters.