COVID-19 is a novel coronavirus with an outbreak of unusual viral pneumonia in Wuhan, China, and then pandemic. Based on its phylogenetic relationships and genomic structures the COVID-19 belongs to genera Betacoronavirus. Human Betacoronaviruses (SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV, and MERS-CoV) have many similarities, but also have differences in their genomic and phenotypic structure that can influence their pathogenesis. COVID-19 is containing single-stranded (positive-sense) RNA associated with a nucleoprotein within a capsid comprised of matrix protein. A typical CoV contains at least six ORFs in its genome. All the structural and accessory proteins are translated from the sgRNAs of CoVs. Four main structural proteins are encoded by ORFs 10, 11 on the one-third of the genome near the 3'-terminus. The genetic and phenotypic structure of COVID-19 in pathogenesis is important. This article highlights the most important of these features compared to other Betacoronaviruses.
Journal of microbiology, immunology, and infection = Wei mian yu gan ran za zhi. 2020 Mar 31 [Epub ahead of print]
Leila Mousavizadeh, Sorayya Ghasemi
Department of Virus-host Interaction, Heinrich-Pette-Institut (HPI), Martinistrasse 52, 20251 Hamburg, Germany. Electronic address: ., Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Basic Health Sciences Institute, Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Shahrekord, Iran; Cancer Research Center, Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Shahrekord, Iran. Electronic address: .