简介：AnnotationofthegenomesequenceoftheSARS-CoV(severeacuterespiratorysyndrome-associatedcoronavirus)isindispensabletounderstanditsevolutionandpathogenesis.WehaveperformedafullannotationoftheSARS-CoVgenomesequencesbyusingannotationprogramspubliclyavailableordevelopedbyourselves.Totally,21openreadingframes(ORFs)ofgenesorputativeuncharacterizedproteins(PUPs)werepredicted.SevenPUPshadnotbeenreportedpreviously,andtwoofthemwerepredictedtocontaintransmembraneregions.EightORFspartiallyoverlappedwithorembeddedintothoseofknowngenes,revealingthattheSARS-CoVgenomeisasmallandcompactonewithoverlappedcodingregions.ThemoststrikingdiscoveryisthatanORFlocatesontheminusstrand.Wehavealsoannotatednon-codingregionsandidentifiedthetranscriptionregulatingsequences(TRS)intheintergenicregions.TheanalysisofTRSsupportstheminusstrandextendingtranscriptionmechanismofcoronavirus.TheSNPanalysisofdifferentisolatesrevealsthatmutationsofthesequencesdonotaffectthepredictionresultsofORFs.

简介：Knowledgeoftheevolutionofpathogensisofgreatmedicalandbiologicalsignificancetotheprevention,diagnosis,andtherapyofinfectiousdiseases.InordertounderstandtheoriginandevolutionoftheSARS-CoV(severeacuterespiratorysyndrome-associatedcoronavirus),wecollectedcompletegenomesequencesofallvirusesavailableinGenBank,andmadecomparativeanalyseswiththeSARSCoV.GenomicsignatureanalysisdemonstratesthatthecoronavirusesalltaketheTGTTastheirrichesttetranucleotideexcepttheSARS-CoV.Adetailedanalysisoftheforty-twocompleteSARS-CoVgenomesequencesrevealedtheexistenceoftwodistinctgenotypes,andshowedthattheseisolatescouldbeclassifiedintofourgroups.OurmanualanalysisoftheBLASTNresultsdemonstratesthattheHE(hemagglutinin-esterase)geneexistsintheSARS-CoV,andmanymutationsmadeitunfamiliartous.

简介：Adatasetof103SARS-CoVisolates(101humanpatientsand2palmcivets)wasinvestigatedondifferentaspectsofgenomepolymorphismandisolateclassification.Thenumberandthedistributionofsinglenucleotidevariations(SNVs)andinsertionsanddeletions,withrespecttoa"profile",weredeterminedanddiscussed("profile"beingasequencecontainingthemostrepresentedletterperposition).Distributionofsubstitutioncategoriespercodonpositions,aswellassynonymousandnon-synonymoussubstitutionsincodingregionsofannotatedisolates,wasdetermined,alongwithaminoacid(a.a.)propertychanges.Similaranalysiswasperformedforthespike(S)proteininalltheisolates(55ofthembeingpredictedforthefirsttime).TheratioKa/KsconfirmedthattheSgenewassubjectedtotheDarwinianselectionduringvirustransmissionfromanimalstohumans.Isolatesfromthedatasetwereclassifiedaccordingtogenomepolymorphismandgenotypes.Genomepolymorphismyieldstotwogroups,onewithasmallnumberofSNVsandanotherwithalargenumberofSNVs,withuptofoursubgroupswithrespecttoinsertionsanddeletions.Weidentifiedthreebasicnine-locusgenotypes:TTTT/TTCGG,CGCC/TTCAT,andTGCC/TTCGT,withfoursubgenotypes.Bothclassificationsproposedareinaccordancewiththenewinsightsintopossibleepidemiologicalspread,bothinspaceandtime.

简介：Thenucleocapsidprotein(Nprotein)hasbeenfoundtobeanantigenicproteininanumberofcoronaviruses.WhethertheNproteininsevereacuterespiratorysyndrome-associatedcoronavirus(SARS-CoV)isantigenicremainstobeelucidated.UsingWesternblotandEnzyme-linkedImmunosorbentAssay(ELISA),therecombinantNproteinsandthesynthesizedpeptidesderivedfromtheNproteinwerescreenedinserafromSARSpatients.AllpatientserainthisstudydisplayedstrongpositiveimmunoreactivitiesagainsttherecombinantNproteins,whereasnormalseragavenegativeimmunoresponsestotheseproteins,indicatingthattheNproteinofSARS-CoVisanantigenicprotein.Furthermore,theepitopesitesintheNproteinweredeterminedbycompetitionexperiments,inwhichtherecombinantproteinsorthesynthesizedpeptidescompetedagainsttheSARS-CoVproteinstobindtotheantibodiesraisedinSARSsera.OneepitopesitelocatedattheC-terminuswasconfirmedasthemostantigenicregioninthisprotein.AdetailedscreeningofpeptidewithELISAdemonstratedthattheaminosequencefromCodons371to407wastheepitopesiteattheC-terminusoftheNprotein.UnderstandingoftheepitopesitescouldbeverysignificantfordevelopinganeffectivediagnosticapproachtoSARS.

简介：TheE(envelope)proteinisthesmalleststructuralproteininallcoronavirusesandistheonlyviralstructuralproteininwhichnovariationhasbeendetected.WeconductedgenomesequencingandphylogeneticanalysesofSARS-CoV.Basedongenomesequencing,wepredictedtheEproteinisatransmembrane(TM)pro-teincharacterizedbyaTMregionwithstronghydrophobicityandα-helixcon-formation.Weidentifiedasegment(NH2-_L-Cys-A-Y-Cys-Cys-N_-COOH)inthecarboxyl-terminalregionoftheEproteinthatappearstoformthreedisulfidebondswithanothersegmentofcorrespondingcysteinesinthecarboxyl-terminusoftheS(spike)protein.ThesebondspointtoapossiblestructuralassociationbetweentheEandSproteins.OurphylogeneticanalysesoftheEproteinsequencesinallpub-lishedcoronavirusesplaceSARS-CoVinanindependentgroupinCoronaviridaeandsuggestanon-humananimalorigin.

简介：Thecorona-likespikesorpeplomersonthesurfaceofthevirionunderelectronicmicroscopearethemoststrikingfeaturesofcoronaviruses.TheS(spike)proteinisthelargeststructuralprotein,with1,255aminoacids,intheviralgenome.Itsstructurecanbedividedintothreeregions:alongN-terminalregionintheexte-rior,acharacteristictransmembrane(TM)region,andashortC-terminusintheinteriorofavirion.WedetectedfifteensubstitutionsofnucleotidesbycomparisonswiththeseventeenpublishedSARS-CoVgenomesequences,eight(53.3%)ofwhicharenon-synonymousmutationsleadingtoaminoacidalternationswithpredictedphysiochemicalchanges.ThepossibleantigenicdeterminantsoftheSproteinarepredicted,andtheresultisconfirmedbyELISA(enzyme-linkedimmunosorbentassay)withsynthesizedpeptides.AnotherprofoundfindingisthatthreedisulfidebondsaredefinedattheC-terminuswiththeN-terminusoftheE(envelope)pro-tein,basedonthetypicalsequenceandpositions,thusestablishingthestructuralconnectionwiththesetwoimportantstructuralproteins,ifconfirmed.Phyloge-neticanalysisrevealsseveralconservedregionsthatmightbepotentdrugtargets.

简介：TheCoronaviridaefamilyischaracterizedbyanucleocapsidthatiscomposedofthegenomeRNAmoleculeincombinationwiththenucleoprotein(Nprotein)withinavirion.ThemoststrikingphysiochemicalfeatureoftheNproteinofSARS-CoVisthatitisatypicalbasicproteinwithahighpredictedpIandhighhydrophilicity,whichisconsistentwithitsfunctionofbindingtotheribophosphatebackboneoftheRNAmolecule.ThepredictedhighextentofphosphorylationoftheNproteinonmultiplecandidatephosphorylationsitesdemonstratesthatitwouldberelatedtoimportantfunctions,suchasRNA-bindingandlocalizationtothenucleolusofhostcells.SubsequentstudyshowsthatthereisanSR-richregionintheNproteinandthisregionmightbeinvolvedintheprotein-proteininteraction.TheabundantantigenicsitespredictedintheNprotein,aswellasexperimentalevidencewithsynthesizedpolypeptides,indicatethattheNproteinisoneofthemajorantigensoftheSARS-CoV.Comparedwithotherviralstructuralproteins,thelowvariationrateoftheNproteinwithregardstoitssizesuggestsitsimportancetothesurvivalofthevirus.

简介：WestudiedstructuralandimmunologicalpropertiesoftheSARS-CoVM(mem-brane)protein,basedoncomparativeanalysesofsequencefeatures,phylogeneticinvestigation,andexperimentalresults.TheMproteinispredictedtocontainatriple-spanningtransmembrane(TM)region,asingleN-glycosylationsitenearitsN-terminusthatisintheexteriorofthevirion,andalongC-terminalregionintheinterior.TheMproteinharborsahighersubstitutionrate(0.6%correlatedtoitssize)amongviralopenreadingframes(ORFs)frompublisheddata.ThefoursubstitutionsdetectedintheMprotein,whichcausenon-synonymouschanges,canbeclassifiedintothreetypes.OneofthemresultsinchangesofpI(isoelectricpoint)andcharge,affectingantigenicity.ThesecondchangeshydrophobicityoftheTMregion,andthethirdonerelatestohydrophilicityoftheinteriorstructure.PhylogenetictreebuildingbasedonthevariationsoftheMproteinappearstosupportthenon-humanoriginofSARS-CoV.Toinvestigateitsimmunogenicity,wesynthesizedeightoligopeptidescovering69.2%oftheentireORFandscreenedthembyusingELISA(enzyme-linkedimmunosorbentassay)withserafromSARSpatients.Theresultsconfirmedourpredictionsonantigenicsites.

简介：Inthefaceoftheworldwidethreatofsevereacuterespiratorysyndrome(SARS)tohumanlife,someofthemosturgentchallengesaretodevelopfastandaccurateanalyticalmethodsforearlydiagnosisofthisdiseaseaswellastocreateasafeanti-viralvaccineforprevention.Totheseends,weinvestigatedtheantigenicityofthespikeprotein(Sprotein),amajorstructuralproteinintheSARS-coronavirus(SARS-CoV).BaseduponthetheoreticalanalysisforhydrophobicityoftheSprotein,18peptidesweresynthesized.UsingEnzyme-LinkedImmunosorbentAssay(ELISA),thesepeptideswerescreenedintheserafromSARSpatients.Accordingtotheseresults,twofragmentsoftheSgenewereamplifiedbyPCRandclonedintopET-32a.BothSfragmentswereexpressedintheBL-21strainandfurtherpurifiedwithanaffinitychromatography.TheserecombinantSfragmentswereconfirmedtohavepositivecross-reactionswithSARSsera,eitherbyWesternblotorbyELISA.OurresultsdemonstratedthatthepotentialepitoperegionswerelocatedatCodons469-882intheSprotein,andoneepitopesitewaslocatedatCodons599-620.IdentificationofantigenicregionsintheSARS-CoVSproteinmaybeimportantforthefunctionalstudiesofthisvirusorthedevelopmentofclinicaldiagnosis.

简介：InordertodevelopclinicaldiagnostictoolsforrapiddetectionofSARS-CoV(severeacuterespiratorysyndrome-associatedcoronavirus)andtoidentifycandidateproteinsforvaccinedevelopment,theC-terminalportionofthenucleocapsid(NC)genewasamplifiedusingRT-PCRfromtheSARS-CoVgenome,clonedintoayeastexpressionvector(pEGH),andexpressedasaglutathioneS-transferase(GST)andHisx6double-taggedfusionproteinunderthecontrolofaninduciblepromoter.WesternanalysisonthepurifiedproteinconfirmedtheexpressionandpurificationoftheNCfusionproteinsfromyeast.Todetermineitsantigenicity,thefusionproteinwaschallengedwithserumsamplesfromSARSpatientsandnormalcontrols.TheNCfusionproteindemonstratedhighantigenicitywithhighspecificity,andtherefore,itshouldhavegreatpotentialindesigningclinicaldiagnostictoolsandprovideusefulinformationforvaccinedevelopment.

简介：Themultiplexpolymerasechainreaction(PCR)techniquewasappliedtodetecttheSARS-CoV(severeacuterespiratorysyndrome-associatedcoronavirus)specifictargetcDNAfragmentsinthepresentstudy.ThetargetcDNAfragmentsofSARS-CoVweresynthesizedartificiallyaccordingtothegenomesequenceofSARS-CoVinGenBanksubmittedbyTheChineseUniversityofHongKong,andwereusedassimulatedpositivesamples.FiveprimersrecommendedbyWorldHealthOrganization(WHO)wereusedtoamplifythefragmentsbysinglePCRandmultiplexPCR.ThreetargetcDNAfragments(121,182and302bp),aswellasthethreedifferentcombinationsofanytwoofthesefragments,wereamplifiedbysinglePCR.ThecombinationofthesethreefragmentswasamplifiedbymultiplexPCR.TheresultsindicatedthatthemultiplexPCRtechniquecouldbeappliedtodetecttheSARS-CoVspecifictargetcDNAfragmentssuccessfully.

简介：Thesuddenoutbreakofsevereacuterespiratorysyndrome(SARS)in2002promptedtheestablishmentofaglobalscientificnetworksubsumingmostofthetraditionalrivalriesinthecompetitivefieldofvirology.WithinmonthsoftheSARSoutbreak,collaborativeworkrevealedtheidentityofthedisastrouspathogenasSARS-associatedcoronavirus(SARS-CoV).However,althoughtherapididentificationoftheagentrepresentedanimportantbreakthrough,ourunderstandingofthedeadlyvirusremainslimited.Detailedbiologicalknowledgeiscrucialforthedevelopmentofeffectivecountermeasures,diagnostictests,vaccinesandantiviraldrugsagainsttheSARS-CoV.ThisarticlereviewsthepresentstateofmolecularknowledgeaboutSARS-CoV,fromtheaspectsofcomparativegenomics,molecularbiologyofviralgenes,evolution,andepidemiology,anddescribesthediagnostictestsandtheanti-viraldrugsderivedsofarbasedontheavailablemolecularinformation.

简介：BeijinghasbeenoneoftheepicentersattackedmostseverelybytheSARS-CoV(severeacuterespiratorysyndrome-associatedcoronavirus)sincethefirstpatientwasdiagnosedinoneofthecity'shospitals.WenowreportcompletegenomesequencesoftheBJGroup,includingfourisolates(IsolatesBJ01,BJ02,BJ03,andBJ04)oftheSARS-CoV.ItisremarkablethatallmembersoftheBJGroupshareacommonhaplotype,consistingofsevenlocithatdifferentiatethegroupfromotherisolatespublishedtodate.Among42substitutionsuniquelyidentifledfromtheBJgroup,32arenon-synonymouschangesattheaminoacidlevel.Rootedphylogenetictrees,proposedonthebasisofhaplotypesandothersequencevariationsofSARS-CoVisolatesfromCanada,USA,Singapore,andChina,gaverisetodifferentparadigmsbutpositionedtheBJGroup,togetherwiththenewlydiscoveredGD01(GD-Ins29)inthesameclade,followedbytheH-UGroup(fromHongKongtoUSA)andtheH-TGroup(fromHongKongtoToronto),leavingtheSPGroup(Singapore)moredistant.ThisresultappearstosuggestapossibletransmissionpathfromGuangdongtoBeijing/HongKong,thentoothercountriesandregions.

简介：Wereportacompletegenomicsequenceofrareisolates(minorgenotype)oftheSARS-CoVfromSARSpatientsinGuangdong,China,wherethefirstfewcasesemerged.Themoststrikingdiscoveryfromtheisolateisanextra29-nucleotidesequencelocatedatthenucleotidepositionsbetween27,863and27,864(referredtothecompletesequenceofBJ01)withinanoverlappedregioncomposedofBGI-PUP5(BGI-postulateduncharacterizedprotein5)andBGI-PUP6upstreamoftheN(nucleocapsid)protein.Thediscoveryofthisminorgenotype,GD-Ins29,suggestsasignificantgeneticeventanddifferentiatesitfromthepreviouslyre-portedgenotype,thedominantformamongallsequencedSARS-CoVisolates.A17-ntsegmentofthisextrasequenceisidenticaltoasegmentofthesamesizeintwohumanmRNAsequencesthatmayinterferewithviralgenomereplicationandtranscriptioninthecytosoloftheinfectedcells.Itprovidesanewavenuefortheexplorationofthevirus-hostinteractioninviralevolution,hostpathogenesis,andvaccinedevelopment.

简介：TheR(replicase)proteinistheuniquelydefinednon-structuralprotein(NSP)responsibleforRNAreplication,mutationrateorfidelity,regulationoftranscrip-tionincoronavirusesandmanyotherssRNAviruses.Basedonourcompletegenomesequencesoffourisolates(BJ01-BJ04)ofSARS-CoVfromBeijing,China,weanalyzedthestructureandpredictedfunctionsoftheRproteinincomparisonwith13otherisolatesofSARS-CoVand6othercoronaviruses.TheentireORF(open-readingframe)encodesfortwomajorenzymeactivities,RNA-dependentRNApolymerase(RdRp)andproteinaseactivities.TheRpolyproteinunder-goesacomplexproteolyticprocesstoproduce15function-relatedpeptides.Ahydrophobicdomain(HOD)andahydrophilicdomain(HID)arenewlyidentifiedwithinNSP1.ThesubstitutionrateoftheRproteinisclosetotheaverageoftheSARS-CoVgenome.ThefunctionaldomainsinallNSPsoftheRproteingivedifferentphylogeneticresultsthatsuggesttheirdifferentmutationrateunderselectivepressure.ElevenhighlyconservedregionsinRdRpandtwelvecleavagesitesby3CLP(chymotrypsin-likeprotein)havebeenidentifiedaspotentialdrugtargets.Findingssuggestthatitispossibletoobtaininformationaboutthephy-logenyofSARS-CoV,aswellaspotentialtoolsfordrugdesign,genotypinganddiagnosticsofSARS.