SARS-CoV-2 mutations in Brazil: from genomics to putative clinical conditions
Luís Fernando Saraiva Macedo Timmers, Júlia Vasconcellos Peixoto, Rodrigo G. Ducati, José Fernando Ruggiero Bachega, Leandro de Mattos Pereira, Rafael Andrade Caceres, Fernanda Majolo, Guilherme Liberato da Silva, Débora Bublitz Anton, Odir Antônio Dellagostin, João Antônio Pêgas Henriques, Léder Leal Xavier, Márcia Inês Goettert, Stefan Laufer
Abstract
Due to the high rate of transmissibility, Brazil became the new COVID-19 outbreak epicenter and, since then, is being monitored to understand how SARS-CoV-2 mutates and spreads. We combined genomic and structural analysis to evaluate genomes isolated from different regions of Brazil and show that the most prevalent mutations were located in the S, N, ORF3a and ORF6 genes, which are involved in different stages of viral life cycle and its interaction with the host cells. Structural analysis brought to light the positions of these mutations on protein structures, contributing towards studies of selective structure-based drug discovery and vaccine development.