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Nucleocapsid mutations R203K/G204R increase the infectivity, fitness, and virulence of SARS-CoV-2

Open access
Wu, Haibo, Xing, Na, Meng, Kaiwen, Fu, Beibei, Xue, Weiwei, Dong, Pan, Tang, Wanyan, Xiao, Yang, Liu, Gexin, Luo, Haitao, Zhu, Wenzhuang, Lin, Xiaoyuan, Meng, Geng, Zhu, Zhenglin·2021·Cell Host & Microbe

Abstract

Abstract In addition to the mutations on the spike protein (S), co-occurring mutations on nucleocapsid (N) protein are also emerging in SARS-CoV-2 world widely. Mutations R203K/G204R on N, carried by high transmissibility SARS-CoV-2 lineages including B.1.1.7 and P.1, has a rapid spread in the pandemic during the past year. In this study, we performed comprehensive population genomic analyses and virology experiment concerning on the evolution, causation and virology consequence of R203K/G204R mutations. The global incidence frequency (IF) of 203K/204R has rose up from nearly zero to 76% to date with a shrinking from August to November in 2020 but bounced later. Our results show that the emergence of B.1.1.7 is associated with the second growth of R203K/G204R mutants. We identified positive selection evidences that support the adaptiveness of 203K/204R variants. The R203K/G204R mutant virus was created and compared with the native virus. The virus competition experiments show that 203K/204R variants possess a replication advantage over the preceding R203/G204 variants, possibly in relation to the ribonucleocapsid (RNP) assemble during the virus replication. Moreover, the 203K/204R virus increased the infectivity in a human lung cell line and induced an enhanced damage to blood vessel of infected hamsters’ lungs. In consistence, we observed a positive association between the increased severity of COVID-19 and the IF of 203K/204R from in silicon analysis of global clinical and epidemic data. In combination with the informatics and virology experiment, our work suggested the contribution of 203K/204R to the increased transmission and virulence of the SARS-CoV-2. In addition to mutations on the S protein, the mutations on the N protein are also important to virus spread during the pandemic.

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Metadata

Authors
Wu, H., Xing, N., Meng, K., Fu, B., Xue, W., Dong, P., Tang, W., Xiao, Y., Liu, G., Luo, H., Zhu, W., Lin, X., Meng, G., & Zhu, Z.
Venue
Cell Host & Microbe
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2021-12
Volume
29
Issue
12
Pages
1788-1801.e6
ISSN
1931-3128 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W3211827836
Cited by
226
References
24
FWCI
14.81
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
hybrid

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Nucleocapsid mutations R203K/G204R increase the infectivity, fitness, and virulence of SARS-CoV-2. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1016/j.chom.2021.11.005
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Wu, H., Xing, N., Meng, K., Fu, B., Xue, W., Dong, P., Tang, W., Xiao, Y., Liu, G., Luo, H., Zhu, W., Lin, X., Meng, G., & Zhu, Z. (2021). Nucleocapsid mutations R203K/G204R increase the infectivity, fitness, and virulence of SARS-CoV-2. Cell Host & Microbe. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2021.11.005

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