Peak protein from mutant strain B.1.429, also commonly known as the “US California variant”. It is a full-length protein, which is active in its native trimeric form, which is stabilized in LMNG detergent.
This blog represents the most up-to-date information on surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 as of February 17.
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Recent news that a highly transmissible SARS-CoV-2 lineage originally detected in the United Kingdom (UK) has spread to the United States (US) serves as a reminder that it remains critical to continue investigating the current crisis, characterize the virus. more strains and monitor the spread of the virus at the population level to assess the effectiveness of containment strategies, including a vaccine.
The new SARS-CoV-2 lineage – B.1.1.7 – poses a challenge to these efforts. According to the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), “While viruses are known and expected to constantly change through mutation leading to the emergence of new variants, a preliminary analysis in the UK suggests that this variant is significantly more transmissible than previously circulating variants ”[1].
The new lineage B.1.1.7 is characterized by 17 mutations that cause amino acid changes, 8 of which occur in the spike (S) protein gene. The Applied Biosystems TaqPath COVID-19 Combo Kit, which uses an RT-qPCR test to detect SARS-CoV-2 in multiple countries, contains an S gene target in one of these regions, where amino acid shedding occurs 69 and 70 (69-70del). Due to the multi-purpose design of this trial, the overall sensitivity of the test should not be affected by variant B.1.1.7.