RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Using image-based haplotype alignments to map global adaptation of SARS-CoV-2 JF bioRxiv FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory SP 2021.01.13.426571 DO 10.1101/2021.01.13.426571 A1 Tom W. Ouellette A1 Jim Shaw A1 Philip Awadalla YR 2021 UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/01/13/2021.01.13.426571.abstract AB Quantifying evolutionary change among viral genomes is an important clinical device to track critical adaptations geographically and temporally. We built image-based haplotype-guided evolutionary inference (ImHapE) to quantify adaptations in expanding populations of non-recombining SARS-CoV-2 genomes. By combining classic population genetic summaries with image-based deep learning methods, we show that different rates of positive selection are driving evolutionary fitness and dispersal of SARS-CoV-2 globally. A 1.35-fold increase in evolutionary fitness is observed within the UK, associated with expansion of both the B.1.177 and B.1.1.7 SARS-CoV-2 lineages.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.