Researchers have discovered the third new variant of coronavirus in the United States and say it could become the most easily transmitted so far.
A team from Southern Illinois University Carbondale followed the earliest appearance of the new variant, called 20C-USA, in Texas in May 2020.
The variant carries several mutations, including the spike protein, which the virus uses to enter and infect human cells.
Scientists say that the variant has not spread significantly beyond the country’s borders and that it is the most widespread in the Upper Midwest.
Moreover, it could be responsible for at least 50% of all American cases, which means it is widespread.
“We predict that the 20C-US could already be the most dominant variant of SARS-CoV-2 in the US,” the team wrote in a pre-printed article.
“The continued evolution of 20C-US, as well as other dominant variants specific to the emerging region around the world, should be further monitored with genomic, epidemiological and experimental studies to understand viral evolution and predict future pandemic outcomes.”
20C-USA is now one of the growing list of mutations discovered in countries such as the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil.
The news comes just a day after researchers in Ohio announced the first discovery of two home variants – one virtually identical to a variant that appeared in the UK and the other completely unique to the US and dominant in the capital of Columbus.
Researchers at Southern Illinois University Carbondale have found a third new variant of coronavirus, called 20C-USA, first detected in Texas in May 2020. Pictured: Teresa Armendariz, an assistant at the Odessa Regional Medical Center, tests a person for COVID -19 at the West Texas Horse Center in Odessa, Texas, December 8th
Genome sequencing revealed an increase in the new variant in July 2020 (left) and accounted for 50% of all US genomes between November 1 and December 31 (right).
Led by Dr. Keith Gagnon, an associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry at SIU, the team first looked at the possibility of the new variant while analyzing Illinois genome sequencing data.
“The data jumped off the page when we analyzed it, so we then started analyzing national data and then genome sequence data globally,” Gagnon said in a press release.
Viral genomes have been sequenced from samples taken from March 2020 to the present.
“The data jumped off the page when we analyzed it, so we then started analyzing national data and, later, sequential genome data worldwide,” Gagnon said in a press release.
The team began sequencing viral genomes from samples taken from March 2020 to the present and one variant became more pronounced than the rest.
To see if it was present nationally, the researchers randomly sampled 3.3 percent of the U.S. genomes available from the global GISAID genomics database.
The earliest occurrence was found in a sample taken in the greater Houston, Texas area on May 20, 2020.
Following the variant over time, there has been a notable expansion of the presence of the variant in July 2020, which coincides with the second pandemic wave in America, in states such as Wisconsin and Illinois.
However, between November 1 and December 31, nearly 50 percent of all sequenced genomes in the US are the new variant.
Researchers suggest that this means that 20C-US has “exceeded 50% of penetration to become the most dominant variant in the US”
The variant has not spread significantly beyond US borders and is the most widespread in the Upper Midwest (above).
The researchers say the virus has several mutations, including two to the spike protein, which it uses to enter and infect cells. Pictured: CDC illustration of coronavirus
However, it is highly prevalent in the eastern and midwest regions and has not spread widely in the western half of the United States.
‘Is here. We found her. It is definitely grown at home and spread and we are the first to characterize it “, said Gagnon.
20C-US were reported in other countries, including Australia, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand, but at low levels.
The first mutations the virus showed were in genes related to the maturation of virus particles – a process by which a virus ruptures from a host cell and activates to infect more cells – and the processing of viral proteins.
Gagnon says all of this is important for the production of the virus.
Since then, the new variant has formed two new mutations in the spike protein, which proves that it is evolving.
Evidence is lacking, but the team says the combination of low fatality rates and increased COVID-19 infections suggests that the new variant is highly communicable, but only causes midl disease.
Dr. Daniel Jones, of Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center, who discovered the Columbus variant, told DailyMail.com that the Illinois variant “looks closely related, but not exactly identical.”
Jones said this means that the two sets of researchers – in Ohio and Illinois – are probably looking for variants of the same growth.
With the administration of the first doses of newly approved vaccines nationwide, Gagnon said it was not known whether the variant will affect its effectiveness.
“Based on the mutations so far, I don’t think it will have a significant impact on the vaccine’s effectiveness,” he said.
“The catch is that the virus continues to evolve and, since May, has acquired three mutations, and two of them are in the spike protein, one of which could affect the binding of antibodies. There are a lot of strangers.
Both Pfizer and Moderna have tested their vaccines against international variants and say they expect jabs to provide protection.