Genomic analysis reveals many animal species may be vulnerable to SARS-
CoV-2 infection

Date:
August 21, 2020
Source:
University of California - Davis
Summary:
Analysis of ACE2, the main receptor that SARS-CoV-2 uses to bind
and enter cells, across 410 vertebrate species reveals that many are
potentially susceptible to infection by the novel coronavirus. They
include a number of endangered and threatened species, notably
apes and old world primates. The study could also reveal potential
intermediate hosts and animal models for the virus.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== [Sumatran orangutan | Credit: (c) Anton Petrus / stock.adobe.com]
Sumatran orangutan (stock image).

Credit: (c) Anton Petrus / stock.adobe.com [Sumatran orangutan | Credit:
(c) Anton Petrus / stock.adobe.com] Sumatran orangutan (stock image).

Credit: (c) Anton Petrus / stock.adobe.com Close Humans are not the only species facing a potential threat from SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus
that causes COVID-19, according to a new study from the University of California, Davis.


==========================================================================
An international team of scientists used genomic analysis to compare the
main cellular receptor for the virus in humans -- angiotensin converting enzyme-2, or ACE2 -- in 410 different species of vertebrates, including
birds, fish, amphibians, reptiles and mammals.

ACE2 is normally found on many different types of cells and tissues,
including epithelial cells in the nose, mouth and lungs. In humans,
25 amino acids of the ACE2 protein are important for the virus to bind
and gain entry into cells.

The researchers used these 25 amino acid sequences of the ACE2 protein,
and modeling of its predicted protein structure together with the
SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, to evaluate how many of these amino acids are
found in the ACE2 protein of the different species.

"Animals with all 25 amino acid residues matching the human protein are predicted to be at the highest risk for contracting SARS-CoV-2 via ACE2,"
said Joana Damas, first author for the paper and a postdoctoral research associate at UC Davis. "The risk is predicted to decrease the more the
species' ACE2 binding residues differ from humans." About 40 percent
of the species potentially susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 are classified as "threatened" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and may
be especially vulnerable to human-to-animal transmission. The study was published Aug. 21 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.



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"The data provide an important starting point for identifying vulnerable
and threatened animal populations at risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection,"
said Harris Lewin, lead author for the study and a distinguished
professor of evolution and ecology at UC Davis. "We hope it inspires
practices that protect both animal and human health during the pandemic." Endangered species predicted to be at risk Several critically endangered primate species, such as the Western lowland gorilla, Sumatran orangutan
and Northern white-cheeked gibbon, are predicted to be at very high risk
of infection by SARS-CoV-2 via their ACE2 receptor.

Other animals flagged as high risk include marine mammals such as gray
whales and bottlenose dolphins, as well as Chinese hamsters.

Domestic animals such as cats, cattle and sheep were found to have a
medium risk, and dogs, horses and pigs were found to have low risk for
ACE2 binding.

How this relates to infection and disease risk needs to be determined by
future studies, but for those species that have known infectivity data,
the correlation is high.



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In documented cases of SARS-COV-2 infection in mink, cats, dogs, hamsters, lions and tigers, the virus may be using ACE2 receptors or they may use receptors other than ACE2 to gain access to host cells. Lower propensity
for binding could translate to lower propensity for infection, or lower
ability for the infection to spread in an animal or between animals
once established.

Because of the potential for animals to contract the novel coronavirus
from humans, and vice versa, institutions including the National Zoo and
the San Diego Zoo, which both contributed genomic material to the study,
have strengthened programs to protect both animals and humans.

"Zoonotic diseases and how to prevent human to animal transmission is not
a new challenge to zoos and animal care professionals," said co-author Klaus-Peter Koepfli, senior research scientist at Smithsonian-Mason School
of Conservation and former conservation biologist with the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute's Center for Species Survival and Center
for Conservation Genomics.

"This new information allows us to focus our efforts and plan accordingly
to keep animals and humans safe." The authors urge caution against overinterpreting the predicted animal risks based on the computational
results, noting the actual risks can only be confirmed with additional experimental data. The list of animals can be found here.

Research has shown that the immediate ancestor of SARS-CoV-2 likely
originated in a species of bat. Bats were found to be at very low risk
of contracting the novel coronavirus via their ACE2 receptor, which is consistent with actual experimental data.

Whether bats directly transmitted the novel coronavirus directly to
humans, or whether it went through an intermediate host, is not yet known,
but the study supports the idea that one or more intermediate hosts was involved. The data allow researchers to zero in on which species might
have served as an intermediate host in the wild, assisting efforts to
control a future outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 infection in human and animal populations.

Additional authors on the study include: Marco Corbo, UC Davis Genome
Center; Graham M. Hughes and Emma C. Teeling, University College Dublin, Ireland; Kathleen C. Keough and Katherine S. Pollard, UC San Francisco;
Corrie A.

Painter, Nicole S. Persky, Diane P. Genereux, Ross Swofford,
Kerstin Lindblad- Toh and Elinor K. Karlsson, Broad Institute of MIT
and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachussetts; Michael Hiller, Max Planck
Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany;
Andreas R. Pfenning, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh; Huabin Zhao,
Wuhan University, Wuhan, China; Oliver A.

Ryder, San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research, Escondido,
and UC San Diego; Martin T. Nweeia, Harvard School of Dental Medicine,
Boston, and Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.

The research in this study was coordinated as part of the Genome 10K Organization, which includes the Bat1K, Zoonomia, the Vertebrate Genomes Project and the Earth BioGenome Project. Genomic information for the study
was also provided the National Center for Biotechnology Information's
GenBank, the San Diego Zoo's Frozen Zoo and the Smithsonian's Global
Genome Initiative. This work was supported by the Robert and Rosabel
Osborne Endowment.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
University_of_California_-_Davis. Original written by Lisa Howard. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Joana Damas, Graham M. Hughes, Kathleen C. Keough, Corrie
A. Painter,
Nicole S. Persky, Marco Corbo, Michael Hiller, Klaus-Peter
Koepfli, Andreas R. Pfenning, Huabin Zhao, Diane P. Genereux, Ross
Swofford, Katherine S. Pollard, Oliver A. Ryder, Martin T. Nweeia,
Kerstin Lindblad-Toh, Emma C. Teeling, Elinor K. Karlsson, Harris
A. Lewin. Broad host range of SARS-CoV-2 predicted by comparative
and structural analysis of ACE2 in vertebrates. Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences, Aug. 21, 2020; DOI:
10.1073/pnas.2010146117 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200821161423.htm

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