Researchers have discovered the third new variant of the coronavirus in the US and say it could ultimately be the most easily transmitted variant.
A team from Southern Illinois University Carbondale traced the first appearance of a new variant called 20C-US to Texas in May 2020.
The variant carries several mutations, including the spike protein, which the virus uses to enter and infect human cells.
Scientists say the variant has not spread significantly beyond the country’s borders, and that is most common in the Upper Midwest.
Plus, it could be responsible for at least 50 percent of all US cases, which means it’s very widespread.
“We predict that 20C-US may already be the most dominant variant of SARS-CoV-2 in the US,” the team wrote in a preprinted article.
“ The ongoing evolution of 20C-US, as well as other dominant region-specific variants emerging around the world, should be further followed with genomic, epidemiological and experimental studies to understand viral evolution and predict future outcomes of the pandemic. ”
20C-US is now one of the growing list of mutations discovered in countries such as the UK, South Africa and Brazil.
The news comes just a day after Ohio researchers announced the first discovery of two homegrown variants – one nearly identical to a variant emerging in the UK and the other completely unique to the US and dominant in the capital, Columbus.
Researchers at Southern Illinois University Carbondale have found a third new variant of the coronavirus, called 20C-US, first discovered in Texas in May 2020. Pictured: Odessa Regional Medical Center nurse Teresa Armendariz tests a person for COVID-19 in West Texas Horse Center in Odessa, Texas, December 8
Genome sequencing revealed a rise of the new variant in July 2020 (left), and between November 1 and December 31, it made up 50% of all US genomes (right)
Led by Dr. Keith Gagnon, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry at SIU, the team first noticed the possibility of the new variant while looking at genome sequence data from Illinois.
“The data jumped off the page when we looked at it, so we started looking at national data and later global data on genome sequences,” Gagnon said in a press release.
Viral genomes have been sequenced from samples taken from March 2020 to the present.
“The data jumped off the page when we looked at it, so we started looking at national data and later global data on genome sequences,” Gagnon said in a press release.
The team began to sequence viral genomes from samples taken from March 2020 until now, and one variant became more pronounced than the rest.
To see if it was present nationally, researchers randomly sampled 3.3 percent of the US genomes in the global genomic database GISAID.
The earliest apparition was found from a sample taken in the greater Houston area of Texas on May 20, 2020.
After the variant over time, there was a notable expansion in the presence of the variant in July 2020, coinciding with the second wave of the pandemic in America, in states like Wisconsin and Illinois.
However, between November 1 and December 31, nearly 50 percent of all sequenced genomes from the US are the new variant.
Researchers suggest this means 20C-US has ‘surpassed 50 percent penetrance to become the most dominant variety in the US’
The variant has not spread significantly beyond the US borders and is most common in the Upper Midwest (above)
Researchers say the virus has several mutations, including two of the spike protein, which it uses to enter and infect cells. Pictured: CDC illustration of the coronavirus
However, it is common in the eastern and mid-western regions and is not widely distributed to the western half of the US.
‘It’s here. We found it. It’s absolutely homegrown and widespread, and we’re the first to characterize it, ”Gagnon said.
20C-US has been reported in other countries including Australia, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand, but at low levels.
The first mutations the virus showed were in genes related to the maturation of virus particles – a process by which a virus breaks from a host cell and is activated to infect more cells – and the processing of viral proteins.
Gagnon says these are all important for virus production.
Since then, the new variant has formed two new mutations in the spike protein, showing that it is evolving.
Evidence is lacking, but the team says the combination of reduced death rates and an increase in COVID-19 infections suggests the new variant is highly transmissible, but causes only midl disease.
Dr. Daniel Jones, of The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, who discovered the Columbus variant, told DailyMail.com that the Illinois variant “ looks closely related, but not exactly identical. ”
Jones said this means the two sets of researchers – in Ohio and Illinois – likely track variants of the same outgrowth.
With the first doses of recently approved vaccines being administered nationally, Gagnon said it is unknown if variant will affect its effectiveness.
“Based on the mutations so far, I don’t think this will significantly affect the effectiveness of the vaccine,” he said.
The catch is that the virus continues to evolve and has gotten three mutations since May, two of which are in the spike protein, one of which can affect antibody binding. There are many unknowns. ‘
Both Pfizer and Moderna have tested their vaccines against the international variants and say they expect the injections to provide protection.