Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2): Codon Usage and Replicative Fitness

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) codon usage, as shown by the polyprotein coding sequence, shows better translation potential in the human host when compared with human coronavirus OC43 (HCoV-OC43) codon usage. Such translational advantage might facilitate SARS-CoV-2 replication, immunogenicity, and pathogenicity, thus also accounting for the less harmful character of HCoV-OC43 infection.

Keywords

codon usage / HCoV-OC43 / SARS-CoV-2 / viral replication fitness

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2020 Global Medical Genetics