PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Huolin Tu
AU  - Matthew R Avenarius
AU  - Laura Kubatko
AU  - Matthew Hunt
AU  - Xiaokang Pan
AU  - Peng Ru
AU  - Jason Garee
AU  - Keelie Thomas
AU  - Peter Mohler
AU  - Preeti Pancholi
AU  - Dan Jones
TI  - Distinct Patterns of Emergence of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Variants including N501Y in Clinical Samples in Columbus Ohio
AID  - 10.1101/2021.01.12.426407
DP  - 2021 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2021.01.12.426407
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/01/15/2021.01.12.426407.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/01/15/2021.01.12.426407.full
AB  - Following the worldwide emergence of the p.Asp614Gly shift in the Spike (S) gene of SARS-CoV-2, there have been few recurring pathogenic shifts occurring during 2020, as assessed by genomic sequencing. This situation has evolved in the last several months with the emergence of several distinct variants (first identified in the United Kingdom and South Africa, respectively) that illustrate multiple changes in the S gene, particularly p.Asn501Tyr (N501Y), that likely have clinical impact. We report here the emergence in Columbus, Ohio in December 2020 of two novel SARS-CoV-2 clade 20C/G variants. One isolate, that has become the predominant virus found in nasopharyngeal swabs in the December 2020-January 2021 period, harbors S p.Gln677His, membrane glycoprotein (M) p.Ala85Ser (Q677H) and nucleocapsid (N) p.Asp377Tyr (D377Y) mutations. The other isolate contains S N501Y and ORF8 Arg52Ile (R52I), which are two markers of the UK-B.1.1.7 (clade 20I/501Y.V1) strain, but lacks all other mutations from that virus. It is also from a different clade and shares multiple mutations with the clade 20C/G viruses circulating in Ohio prior to December 2020. These two SARS-CoV-2 viruses emerging now in the United States add to the diversity of S gene shifts occurring worldwide and support multiple independent acquisition of S N501Y (in likely contrast to the unitary S D614G shift) occurring first during this period of the pandemic.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.