Just one mutation allows the RaTG13 virus, ineffective in infecting humans to a close relative of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, successfully infecting human cells and intestinal organoids. This conclusion was made by German molecular biologists after the experiments; the preprint of their research is posted on bioRxiv.
The most likely hypothesis for the origin of the pandemic SARS-CoV-2 is “jumping” to humans from a wild reservoir in nature, probably from bats. The devastating result of the transition to humans is due to the ability of the S-protein of its “crown” to use the human receptor ACE2 to enter cells.
Although the S protein of the closest related bat virus, RaTG13, shows high similarity to the S protein of SARS-CoV-2, it does not interact effectively with the human ACE2 receptor.
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The authors conducted laboratory experiments with pseudoviruses and, through various methods of analysis, including electron microscopy, found that only one mutation in the SARS-CoV-2 genome (R403T↔T403R) significantly reduced virus infection. Having carried out a reverse rearrangement at this point of the RaTG13 genome, the scientists obtained a variant of this bat virus that is infectious for humans.
“Our results indicate that the presence of a positively charged amino acid at position 403 in the S protein is critical for the efficient use of human ACE2. This discovery could help predict the zoonotic potential of animal coronaviruses,” biologists emphasize the importance of their findings.
In May 2020, scientists reported that RmYN02, another “closest relative” of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, was found in the southern province of Yunnan (PRC).
In the summer of 2020, British geneticists suggested that SARS-CoV-2 on the family tree moved away from related bat coronaviruses like RaTG13 not last year or even this millennium, but about 40-70 years ago.
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