The discovery of a group of American and Italian scientists led by Robert C. Gallo: in the RNA-dependent polymerase enzyme the mutation that made the virus different in the different continents
Rome, 14 April 2020 - The Covid-19 virus, which left China, has mutated over the months and become more contagious and infectious once it has arrived in Europe and North America. scientists fromInstitute of Human Virology (IHV) of the University of Maryland led by Robert C. Gallo and Davide cella together with Massimo Ciccozzi e Silvia Angeletti dell 'Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma and in collaboration with Area Science Park of Trieste led by Rudy Ippodrino and Bruna Marini in fact, they identified a new mutation of the SARS-Cov-2 virus in the polymerase enzyme, relating to viral strains present in European and North American patients. In particular, the study found that the mutation is very frequent in the strains analyzed in Europe and North America, while it is absent in the Asian strains.
The data was obtained through the analysis of over 200 complete genomic sequences in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) and Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID) databases from December 2019 to March 2020.
With this discovery it was possible to differentiate the Asian strain of SARS-Cov-2 from the European and North American one. According to the study, published in the Journal of Translation Medicine, it would therefore be possible for different viral strains to coexist, each with a different mutation strategy.
The mutation capable of differentiating the European-North American strain from the Asian one occurred within the RNA dependent polymerase, an enzyme functional to virus replication.
"This is an important result in the direction of a greater knowledge of the behavior of the virus and, in perspective, for the development of a specific vaccine and the most appropriate therapies" stressed Massimo Ciccozzi, molecular epidemiologist and director of the Medical Statistics and Epidemiology Unit ofUniversità Campus Bio-Medico di Roma.
This mutation may explain the rapidity and greater multiplication of the virus in affected patients in Europe and North America, compared to Asia. The presence of this and five other mutations already discovered by the Italian team represent significant elements in establishing the behavior of the virus in Asia, Europe and North America. These discoveries are therefore relevant for the study of future therapeutic strategies currently being tested.
