A SARS-CoV-2 Variant with L452R and E484Q Neutralization Resistance Mutations
Michelle Verghese, Becky Jiang, Naomi Iwai, Marilyn Mar, Malaya K. Sahoo, Fumiko Yamamoto, Kenji O. Mfuh, Jacob A. Miller, Hannah Wang, James L. Zehnder, Benjamin A. Pinsky
Abstract
The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants that reduce antibody neutralization and vaccine efficacy is of significant global concern. On 24 March 2021, the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Consortium on Genomics reported that a variant containing a unique combination of two spike receptor-binding domain (RBD) neutralization resistance mutations, L452R and E484Q, made up 15 to 20% of positive cases in the Maharashtra state, which includes Mumbai (https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1707177). Here, we report the rapid recognition of this variant in the San Francisco Bay Area, CA, through investigation of unusual reverse transcriptase real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) curves and confirmation by viral whole-genome sequencing (WGS).