Emergence and spread of the potential variant of interest (VOI) B.1.1.519 of SARS-CoV-2 predominantly present in Mexico
Abril Paulina Rodríguez-Maldonado, Joel Armando Vázquez-Pérez, Alberto Cedro‐Tanda, Blanca Taboada, Célia Boukadida, Claudia Wong-Arámbula, Tatiana Ernestina Núñez-García, Natividad Cruz-Ortiz, Gisela Barrera-Badillo, Lucía Hernández‐Rivas, Irma López-Martı́nez, Alfredo Mendoza-Vargas, Juan Pablo Reyes‐Grajeda, Nicolás Alcaraz, Fernando Peñaloza-Figueroa, Dulibeth Gonzalez-Barrera, Daniel Rangel-DeLeon, Luis A. Herrera, Fidencio Mejía-Nepomuceno, Alejandra Hernández‐Terán, Mario Mújica-Sánchez, Eduardo Becerril‐Vargas, José Arturo Martínez-Orozco, Rogelio Pérez‐Padilla, Jorge Salas‐Hernandez, Alejandro Sánchez‐Flores, Pavel Iša, Margarita Matías‐Florentino, Santiago Ávila‐Ríos, José Esteban Muñoz‐Medina, Concepción Grajales-Muñíz, Ángel Gustavo Salas-Lais, Andrea Santos Coy-Arechavaleta, Alfredo Hidalgo‐Miranda, Carlos F. Arias, José Ernesto Ramírez–González
Abstract
SARS-CoV-2 variants emerged in late 2020, and at least three variants of concern (B.1.1.7, B.1.351, and P1) have been reported by WHO. These variants have several substitutions in the spike protein that affect receptor binding; they exhibit increased transmissibility and may be associated with reduced vaccine effectiveness. In the present work, we report the identification of a potential variant of interest, harboring the mutations T478K, P681H, and T732A in the spike protein, within the newly named lineage B.1.1.519, that rapidly outcompeted the preexisting variants in Mexico and has been the dominant virus in the country during the first trimester of 2021.